Posted on April 30, 2007

Prosecutor: Officer Forced Couples To Have Sex

KIRO-TV, Seattle, April 26, 2007

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Wayne County authorities accuse 39-year-old Roosevelt Tidwell of forcing couples to engage in sex acts while he watched after confronting them at a park.

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A 21-year-old Detroit woman told investigators that she and a male friend were driving through Chandler Park early on Feb. 7 when a Detroit police officer pulled them over.

The officer took their identification and got in the back seat of her car, then told the male friend to perform a sex act on the woman, according to court records. He threatened them with a $500 ticket if they didn’t, according to court records.

The woman said the officer also fondled her breast and forced her to fondle him. The officer then told her to get out of the car and demanded her cell phone number.

Worthy said Tidwell later called the woman several times. The woman secretly taped at least one call and gave the tape to investigators.

According to the prosecutor’s office, two couples went to the police on April 14 after the alleged incident on Detroit’s east side, according to Detroit TV station WDIV.

The two women and two men said they were inside a parked Ford Explorer drinking beer at 3:50 a.m. when a white Detroit police SUV pulled up behind them.

According to the account given by the two women, after the sergeant threatened to arrest the couples for being in the park after 10 p.m., he told them he wouldn’t arrest them if they performed oral sex on the two men while he watched.

One couple was forced to have intercourse, according to court records.

The victims said that the officer shone his flashlight on them and that they saw him masturbating. {snip}

Assistant Prosecutor James Heath said internal affairs has received more complaints about Tidwell and he believes there are more victims.

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His charges included criminal sexual conduct in the first and second degree, extortion, gross indecency and misconduct in office.