RI Police Officer Convicted of Raping Lesbian While on Duty

In a police station!

On Thursday, a Providence Superior Court jury convicted 39-year-old Officer Marcus Huffman of first-degree sexual assault for the 2007 attack on the now-22-year-old lesbian woman. The disgraced cop was "led from the courtroom in handcuffs" as the victim cried aloud, reports the Associated Press.

The Providence Journal provides background. It's not very pleasant.

The Fall River woman, now 22, had been drinking heavily with her friends before they got to Platforms Dance Club on March 17, 2007, and was turned away at the door. Her friends went in without her. At some point, Huffman pulled up to the club in his police cruiser and the woman got into the front seat under the impression he would take her home, she said. He took her to a substation in South Providence around 1 a.m., where the woman said she passed out in the bathroom. She awoke hours later partially disrobed, with throbbing pain in her vagina. Huffman was gone. She went to her aunt’s house nearby where relatives reported the rape. Experts testified that Huffman’s sperm was found on the woman’s underwear, though a rape kit did not show evidence of trauma to the woman’s vagina.

Huffman's history on the force includes charges of excessive force, brutality and sexual abuse.

In 1995, Huffman, then 25, was indicted after being accused of having sex with a 10-year-old girl when he was 16 and 17. The judge threw out the case because she said she found no evidence of coercion. On that same day, in another courtroom, Huffman faced charges that he demanded oral sex from a prostitute. That case was also dismissed. In 1998, Huffman was suspended without pay for failing to show up for a hearing on a complaint that he beat a 14-year-old boy with a billy club. That same year, he was found guilty of three misdemeanor assault charges and given a one-year suspended sentence after he got into an altercation with employees at the Registry of Motor Vehicles.

David Ciucilline, the openly gay mayor of Providence, said in a statement: "The jury verdict today is an important step towards holding Officer Huffman fully accountable for his horrific actions."

Despite the felony sexual assault conviction, "Officer" Marcus Huffman remains suspended without pay "until he has exhausted or terminates any appeals in the case." The disgraced officer's defense attorney says they will appeal the conviction. Huffman faces a possible life sentence ... and here's hoping that justice is served.

Comments

[ronn]

Why the hell was he even on the force after all those prior warning signs? He should be put under the jail for the rest of his life.

[Jim]

“Why the hell was he even on the force after all those prior warning signs?”

My cynical side wants to say that it was those very “warning signs” that made him considered a desirable member of the police force.

[Isis]

You should NEVER go to a club with people you can't trust to have your back. There is NO way I would have let a drunk female friend of mine (gay or not) leave a club by herself.

This man is a coward who was sworn to protect and serve. I hope ALL his appeals FAIL! I believe when cops commit crimes like these there should be added consequences, because they are the ones who truly SHOULD know better!

I would have cut his ass! I always have a blade and mace in my purse when I hang out! I always drink responsibly. People really need to know their limits so they don't get to the point of passing out.

[Jim]

“I would have cut his ass!

Good, Isis, that you are prepared to defend yourself. But I wonder how many judges in this country would take your word over a policeman’s that he was trying to rape you. I think the penitentiary would be in your future.

The victim in this case was lucky that the policeman/rapist was convicted, especially since she was gay and had smoked weed and drunk lots of vodka. Without the DNA testing, she probably wouldn’t have had a chance, even if she were white (which we don’t know).

[jahlaune]

This is just sad and disgusting, diturbing! Even a wh0re turning 50 tricks a day doesnt deserve to be raped. What type of place has RI turned into? Why could he have all these accusations and what type of judges do they have their?? SAD

[Isis]

Thats true Jim, but I would never be in that situation in the 1st place. I don't drink to get drunk, I don't smoke weed and I have never gone to a club with untrustworthy friends. This girl should have known better, but she was not in her right mind and was taken advantage of.

But yes I still carry my blade and mace, lol. Maybe I'll mace the cops instead.

[ronn]

I forgot to write about the victims so-called friends. You know your girl is drunk, yet you leave her alone to be harmed!? I sure hope she has found better friends.

[Observeur]

Wow. Pardon me for being the devil's advocate here, but how can we be sure that she didn't offer herself to him, when she doesn't remember what happened? She could've consented and regretted it. But then again, he did pick her up. Either way, this is a mess.Blaming the victim much? So she wanted to be beat up and raped in a police station? And the boy he beat with the billy club, did he want it too? smh/lolz -RM

[Account Deleted]

My, it's becoming quite fashionable to put the blame on victims in this day and age and victimize the criminals.

[Dallas Cowboy]

@Observeur:

Let's see what happens when some cops beat you up and stick something up your flabby azz and you're hospitalized...

Or when some gangbangers gay bash you and put you in a coma. Maybe you wanted it? Maybe you were coming on to them? So many possibilities!

[alicia banks]

shame!

sexit dogs like this really believe that their penis is a magic wand that can make us hets...it is the same reason they fear the magical penis of any gay man...

i hope he gets some prison magic wand asap!!!

[DT]

Finally some justice. That should have happened a long time ago but he's finally being put away now. And Observer, ummm you know the word lesbian doesn't mean "I secretly like to get raped by men" like some like to think. I understand you're trying to see it from a different point of view but too many times the victim, be they female or MALE get blamed for what happened to them. That woman did not ask that man to rape her. She did not willingly have sex with him. He RAPED her. He violated her, case closed. I've said it so many times and I'll say it again, gay men and gay women have got to start arming themselves with self defense knowledge and tools so that we are no longer victims. Get in the gym and get weight lifting build the physical strength and let folks know you WILL NOT be their victim. Learn martial arts (I did IT WORKS!), learn fighting and self defense strategy, take self defense classes, boxing, kick boxing again they work! Like Isis, carry mace, a taser, know who you have around you, your surroundings and don't be so far gone that you lose control of your own protection. I'm tired of hearing about gay men being beating to death and gay women being raped. I'm not saying we should incite violence but goodness if we don't protect ourselves who will? LGBT community learn actively how to strategically defend and protect yourself, your family, your home and your friends. let's not let people think they can do whatever they want to us and we won't do anything about it.