Pubdate: Thu, 06 Dec 2007
Source: Chicago Sun-Times (IL)
Copyright: 2007 The Sun-Times Co.
Contact:  http://www.suntimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/81
Author: Mary Mitchell, Sun-Times Columnist

HOW DOES COP KEEP JOB AFTER SEX WITH ADDICT?

Officer Should Have Been Booted, Not Given Desk Job

Even with a shortage of eligible black men, it's  unlikely that a
crackhead from Englewood had consensual  sex with police Sgt. John
Herman.

Let's start with the beady eyes, Nazi mustache and  double
chin.

But Herman's lawyer, Peter Hickey, ripped the woman --  an admitted
crack user -- who says she was raped by  Herman in 2004. "This is
about money. This is about a  woman who was out walking the streets,"
Hickey said.

Herman, a 20-year-veteran of the police force, faces  charges of
aggravated criminal sexual assault,  aggravated kidnapping and
official misconduct for the  alleged rape.

The victim, now 42, alleges that Herman stopped her on  the street
and, when she couldn't produce any ID, told  her to get into his squad
car. Then, Herman allegedly  drove the woman to her apartment, where
he allegedly  sexually assaulted her and violated her with a baton.

After first denying knowing the woman, Herman, who was  married at the
time (his wife has since left him), now  claims the sex was consensual.

He would be more believable had he said he paid the  woman for
sex.

What crack addict would agree to have sex with an  unattractive
Chicago Police officer unless some drugs  were involved? And if Herman
was having consensual sex  with the woman, he darn sure was helping
her with her  $100-a-day habit.

But what is most galling about these charges is this:  It took nearly
four years -- count them: 2004, 2005,  2006 and 2007 -- for the city
to stop paying Herman,  even though DNA on the baton was linked to the
victim,  and DNA on the condom was linked to him. Instead of  being
fired for misconduct, Herman was assigned to a  desk job where he
continued to draw his salary.

Charge tossed out

Obviously, a person is innocent until proven guilty,  and Herman
hasn't been convicted of rape.

Still, how in the heck does a married police sergeant  have consensual
sex with a crack addict -- while on  duty, no less -- and not get
booted off the force?

Instead of serving and protecting black citizens in  Englewood, Herman
- -- by his own admission -- was  exploiting at least one of them.

Yes, the victim's drug addiction works against her,  while Herman
wears the mantle of Johnny Law.  Nonetheless, it took a lot of courage
for this woman to  speak out.

Apparently, Herman wasn't the only bad cop who abused  this woman.
Other police officers allegedly tried to  persuade her not to file
charges by slapping her with a  bogus arrest for prostitution.

That charge was later tossed out because no one showed  up in court.
But the arrest follows a pattern of  harassment present in other cases
in which a woman  complained, including the notorious videotaped
beating  of a bartender at a North Side bar.

This victim testified Monday that a detective offered  her $5,000 to
drop her complaint.

"They kept badgering me as if I was the defendant and I  raped him,"
she said.

Other officers who conspired with Herman to silence  this victim
should also be charged with official  misconduct. For too long,
corrupt police officers have  been able to run amok because other
police officers  have their backs when they should have the abused
citizens' backs.

'It shouldn't have taken four years'

Obi Benjamin Nwoye, the attorney who is representing  the victim in a
civil suit, was disgusted by Herman's  claims that the sex was consensual.

"If it was consensual, Herman wouldn't have stuck his  chest out and
said he didn't know her when these  charges were filed," he said. "If
it was consensual,  Herman had a duty and an obligation to disclose
that,  since the city has spent tons of money defending this  case."

Nwoye also pointed out that Herman fought the release  of his DNA
evidence and took the Fifth Amendment in his  deposition for the civil
lawsuit.

"It shouldn't have taken four years to investigate this  case," Nwoye
noted. "But the truth is like water. It  will always find a way out,
no matter how long it  takes."

For the sake of argument, suppose the victim in this  case had an
intimate relationship with Herman in the  past. Did that give him the
right to snatch this woman  off the street, to force her to have sex
with him and  have her endure an assault with his baton?

Absolutely not.

He was the law. She was the addict.

Even if the sex had been consensual, a good cop would  not have gone
there. Because Herman did, he wasn't fit  to wear the blue uniform.
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MAP posted-by: Derek