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An ex-officer accused of sexually assaulting a teen rape victim faces federal charges

A New Orleans police vehicle patrols Bourbon Street.
Jonathan Bachman
/
Reuters
A New Orleans police vehicle patrols Bourbon Street.

A former New Orleans police officer is facing a federal charge related to the alleged sexual assault of a victim, the Justice Department announced on Thursday.

While acting in his role as a New Orleans police officer, 55-year-old Rodney Vicknair allegedly committed a civil rights violation when he sexually assaulted a victim (identified only as V1 in court documents) two years ago, the department said.

Vicknair was charged through a bill of information, and he has been ordered to appear in court on Oct. 7.

This is not the first time allegations of this nature have been made against Vicknair.

Last year, the mother of a 14-year-old girl sued Vicknair, claiming he had raped her daughter.

In May 2020, Vicknair, in his capacity as an officer, transported the unnamed teen to the hospital to receive an examination following a rape. Vicknair used this incident to groom the girl for months, only to later rape the girl himself at least two times, the mother alleges.

The lawsuit, filed in a U.S. District Court in Louisiana, also states that Vicknair "had a long list of citizen complaints of unprofessional and illegal conduct." The mother is also suing the city of New Orleans, in part, for keeping Vicknair on the force despite these concerns against him, the lawsuit says.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Jaclyn Diaz is a reporter on Newshub.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

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