On Friday, former Tallahassee police officer Vincent Crump, who was charged with raping a woman during a traffic stop in 2018, pleaded guilty to charges of felony aggravated assault in connection with the incident.
Crump, the brother of prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump, will serve only two months in jail in addition to five years of probation as part of a plea agreement.
As part of the deal, Crump will also relinquish his law enforcement license and be barred from applying and working in law enforcement anywhere in the country.
He will also undergo a psychological evaluation.
“He won’t ever be in a position of power or authority ever again as a law enforcement officer and be able to put any other woman in the position that this victim was in,” Assistant State Attorney Sarah Dugan said in a text message.
“Hopefully, by his career being taken away, him having to plea to a felony, go to jail, be on probation, it will show that we take law enforcement officers abusing their power very seriously, and we will work to hold them accountable even if there are multiple hung juries.” Dugan added.
While in on-duty and uniform, Crump, 44, had sex with Dorthy B. Oven, a Monticello woman, who then reported the incident to the Tallahassee police as rape, according to investigators.
Prosecutors say Crump said he smelled marijuana after pulling Oven over.
Authorities say officer Crump then forced her into sex at a local parking lot as a way to stay out of trouble, according to Pix11.
Officer Crump was fired the same day the incident was reported in 2018, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.
His defense lawyer argued the sex was consensual, although he acknowledged his clients act violated law enforcement policy and standards.
Crump did not take the stand during his trial.
Nellie King, Crump’s defense attorney, said the plea agreement signifies a weakness in the state’s case against his client.
That, or juries are usually easy to fill with jurors who put too much credibility in the words and testimony of police.
