Atlanta cop indicted in sexual assault

By Tim Eberly The Atlanta-Journal Constitution
ATLANTA — An Atlanta police officer was indicted Friday on charges he sexually assaulted a woman in the back of his patrol car while on duty in July 2004, authorities said.
Wayne Longe, also a sergeant in the U.S. Army Reserve, was charged with sexual assault on a person in custody and violation of his oath of office, according to the Fulton County district attorney's office.
The incident allegedly happened on July 1, 2004, at Anderson Park in northwest Atlanta.
Prosecutors say they linked Longe to the alleged attack by DNA found on a condom thrown away at the park.
Longe's attorney, Jackie Patterson, says Longe admits having sex with the woman in the park that night, but he says it was consensual. It is The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's policy to not name the victims of sexual crimes.
Shelia Edwards, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office, said Longe arrested the woman, who is in her 40s, on a charge of drinking in public, drove her to the park and sexually assaulted her with the car door open.
Afterward, the victim said Longe dropped her off at the location where he arrested her with a ticket for drinking in public, Edwards said.
Longe's attorney, however, contends the woman was never under arrest. Patterson says Longe gave her the ticket when he spotted her on a roadside.
After that, the woman started hitting on Longe, saying she had never been with a Jamaican man, Patterson said. Longe is from Jamaica.
"They had a conversation," Patterson said. "They agreed to go to the park to have sex. ... Unfortunately, he used bad judgment and had sex with her."
After the encounter, Edwards said, the woman returned to her home and told family members, who went to the park and retrieved the discarded condom.
Longe, who joined the Atlanta Police Department in March 2002, was put on administrative leave the day of the incident and later went on military leave, Atlanta police Sgt. Lisa Keyes said.
"We do not condone any behavior associated with these allegations," Keyes said in a prepared statement. "These allegations are against everything our department stands for and will be dealt with swiftly and appropriately. We are doing our utmost to regain the trust and confidence of our communities."

Copyright 2008 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution