Former Jackson, Mississippi Police Officer Sentenced to Life Imprisonment for Sexually...

Former Jackson, Mississippi Police Officer Sentenced to Life Imprisonment for
Sexually Assaulting a Detainee

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Maceo Simmons, a former officer
with the Jackson Police Department in Jackson, Miss., was sentenced to life
imprisonment on Aug. 4, 2008, for sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman he
had detained after a traffic stop, the Justice Department announced today.

The sentence arises out of an incident that occurred on Sept. 19, 1999. The
victim was a passenger in a car, which was pulled over by Jackson police
officers for running a stop sign. Simmons handcuffed the victim and placed her
in the back of his patrol car. He and another officer then drove her to a
remote and isolated location, where Simmons repeatedly raped the victim while
the second officer acted as a lookout. Simmons was originally sentenced to a
term of 20 years imprisonment, but that sentence was reversed on appeal.

"The court's sentence reflects the gravity of the defendant's egregious
conduct," said Grace Chung Becker, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the
Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. "Although nothing can erase the
scars of a rape, hopefully, the court's action will help the victim feel safer
knowing that the perpetrator is behind bars for life."

The convictions resulted from an investigation by Special Agent Brendan
Sheehan, formerly with the Jackson office of the FBI, Special Litigation
Counsel Paige Fitzgerald and Trial Attorney Karima Maloney from the Justice
Department's Civil Rights Division.

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs, +1-202-514-2007, TDD
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