NYPD detectives accused of raping teen in custody resign
Two NYPD detectives accused of raping a teenager while she was in custody resigned Monday, ABC's local affiliate in New York reports. Eddie Martins and Richard Hall were indicted on 50 counts and suspended by NYPD the last week. The two officers were members of the NYPD's narcotics unit in south Brooklyn and were charged with rape, sexual abuse, sexual misconduct, and coercion.
The incident in question occurred on Sept. 15, when Martins and Hall stopped a car driven by an 18-year-old woman with two male passengers. The detectives arrested and handcuffed the woman for possession of marijuana and anti-anxiety medication and told her passengers to leave and pick up her later, the district attorney's office said. The two officers then reportedly took turns raping the woman in the back seat of their police van before dropping her off in the 60th precinct and telling her to "keep her mouth shut."
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The victim is seeking $50 million in damages. If the two detectives are found guilty, they could each face up to 25 years in prison. Before the two men quit their jobs Monday, their lawyers attacked the accuser, pointing to "provocative" social media content as behavior that was "unprecedented for a depressed victim of a vicious rape."
The case has sparked a conversation about New York's penal code, which prohibits sex between corrections officers and inmates and parole officers and parolees, but not police officers and arrestees.
