Cop Gets One Year Sentence After Two Rape Charges

by Alex DiBranco · 2011-01-22 06:00:00 UTC
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It seemed like a pretty solid case against San Antonio, TX, Officer Craig Nash. The rape kit turned up his DNA, and GPS put his squad car where his accuser said she was taken captive and then raped. Gotta love technology. The victim went to the police station immediately to report the attack. Not only that, there was yet another rape charge against Nash in 2008. Yet in a shocking plea deal, Nash was given only one year for "official oppression" (having sex with somebody in custody, consensual or not) and both rape charges were dropped.

As Criminal Justice blogger Elizabeth Renter points out, this "slap on the wrist" hardly represents justice. What is looks more like is blatant favoritism toward an officer, and discrimination against the victim, a transgender sex worker. Police abuse and negligence regarding a sex worker or transgender person is hardly anything new. The victim, meanwhile, is now in prison for illegally engaged in sex work. I couldn't discover how long her sentence is for, but since Nash received such a light term, I wonder who will get out first.

While the judge took into consideration Nash's positive service on the force in deciding that maybe sexual assault isn't so bad, Renter points out that Nash's clean record relies on a lack of follow-through by the police department over other complaints. For instance, his "callous" treatment of a domestic violence victim, barring bystanders watching the assault from intervening, failing to arrest the perpetrator, and threatening to arrest a domestic violence attorney who happened to be on the scene for offering suggestions on how to help. Yep, that sure is a stellar record he has there. Not to mention it, you know, shouldn't matter if an officer never has (or never has been caught) engaged in prior misconduct when he's caught sexually assaulting somebody.

While the Texas court system can no longer do anything about this egregious miscarriage of justice, the FBI can investigate the situation of a cop abusing his authority and the lack of adequate consequences. Please ask the FBI to launch an investigation into Officer Nash's case immediately.

Photo credit: Valarie Everett

Alex DiBranco is a Change.org Editor who has worked for the Nation, Political Research Associates, and the Center for American Progress. She is now based in New York City.

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