News: Iowa, United States

Cedar Rapids Cop Sentenced for Engaging in Sex Violating Woman's Constitutional Rights

Kevin Deon Sims, age 36, from Cedar Rapids, pled guilty to the crime of depriving a person of their constitutional rights while acting under color of state law.

May 9, 2008

CEDAR RAPIDS IA NEWS -- A Cedar Rapids Police Officer, Kevin Deon Sims, pled guilty in January to violating a woman's constitutional rights when he abused his position as an officer to engage in sex with the victim.

Kevin Deon Sims, age 36, from Cedar Rapids, pled guilty to the crime of depriving a person of their constitutional rights while acting under color of state law. At the guilty plea, Sims admitted he was a patrol officer with the Cedar Rapids Police Department when he committed the crime.

On a day in the spring of 2004, at approximately 1:00 a.m., Sims stopped at a bar in Cedar Rapids while he was in uniform and on duty to conduct a bar check. While there, Sims saw and said hello to a woman patron of the bar he knew from prior bar checks. Approximately one-half hour after Sims conducted the bar check, he used emergency lights on his police car to stop the woman as she drove down Center Point Road in Cedar Rapids. Although required by Cedar Rapids Police Department policy, Sims did not alert a dispatcher he had stopped a vehicle.

When Sims got out of his police car and approached the woman, she told him she had a suspended driver's license. Under Iowa law, she was subject to arrest. Normal police procedures would have required Sims to take her identification and call her name in to the dispatcher to check on her driving status. Sims did not do so. Sims told the woman to drive to Daniels Park, which was nearby. She believed she was not free to leave and had to comply with Sims' orders.

Once at the park, Sims and the woman had sexual intercourse. Sims engaged in the intercourse while still on duty, in his police uniform, with his firearm still in his holster, and while acting under color of law. The woman voluntarily engaged in the sexual intercourse believing that, by doing what Sims wanted, she would escape any criminal charges. Sims did not arrest the woman, did not issue a citation for criminal conduct, and did not report the traffic stop to the dispatcher or his supervisor, contrary to Cedar Rapids Police Department policies.

In June 2007, Kevin Deon Sims was interviewed about the incident by two FBI agents and at first, Sims lied to the agents. When confronted by the agents with other information, Sims admitted he had sexual intercourse with the woman.

Sentencing before United States District Court Magistrate Judge Jon Stuart Scoles will be scheduled at a later date once the United States Probation Office has completed a pre-sentence investigation report. Kevin Deon Sims faces a maximum possible sentence of 1 year in prison, a fine of up to $100,000, a $50 special assessment, and up to 1 year of supervised release following any imprisonment for this misdemeanor offense. The offense is a felony only if the offender uses force or causes injury. As a condition of his guilty plea, Sims is required to resign immediately as a police officer and to not seek employment as a sworn law enforcement officer ever again in the United States, its possessions, or territories. Sims was sentenced by Magistrate Judge Jon Stuart Scoles to six months in federal prison. A special assessment of $25.00 as well as a fine of $2,000.00. Sims will also serve one year on supervised probation upon his release.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney C.J. Williams and was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with the cooperation and assistance of the Cedar Rapids Police Department.

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