In 35 states, police officers technically can have sexual contact with people in their custody. The idea that an officer, someone with power, could really get true consent from someone they have in handcuffs is absurd. Unfortunately, police across the country have abused this loophole to shield themselves from reports of rape—but soon, BuzzFeed reports, police in the state of New York will no longer be able to use this deplorable offense.
State lawmakers in New York passed a bill Thursday to prohibit cops from having sex with people in custody, closing a legal loophole that has let police avoid sexual assault convictions by claiming sex with detainees was consensual. The bill was introduced in response to allegations that two on-duty New York City Police Department officers raped a handcuffed woman in their police van in September.
In New York, officers could admit to sexual contact with someone in their custody and get a slap on the wrist at worst—a misdemeanor charge for official misconduct. That charge clearly does not fit the crime of abusing their position to sexually violate vulnerable people.
The creation of this bill is in response to a case involving two police detectives. An 18-year-old woman says that they sexually assaulted her after finding marijuana and pills in the car she was in. A rape evidence collection kit found both of their DNA, but their lawyer insinuates that it was consensual. He said, “there was no nonconsensual sexual encounter.”
The bill pointedly says that someone in custody simply cannot consent to sex with officers. Rapist cops in New York will soon no longer be able to use the “it was consensual” defense to avoid culpability. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo praised the passage of the bill.
"I am proud that this common sense reform closes this egregious loophole once and for all, and I urge other states to follow suit," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who lobbied for the bill's passage, told BuzzFeed News on Saturday.
One state down. Thirty-four more to go.