The attorney for a former Tallahassee Police Officer argues his client had consensual sex with a motorist he’s accused of assaulting during a February traffic stop. Vincent Crump had his first appearance in a Leon County Courtroom Thursday.
Crump is facing three felony counts of sexual battery. In a probable cause affidavit the victim told investigators she had consensual sex with Crump, and wanted to stay on his good side, after he told her he smelled marijuana in her car and offered to make a deal.
Speaking to reporters Thursday, Crump’s attorney Mutaquee Akbar said the issue comes down to whether Crump used his authority to coerce the woman into sex.
“With this issue of authority, and in other circumstances it’s not enough for a person to be a law enforcement officer to show authority, it has to be more, and I don’t think we have that more to say he was using his authority as a law enforcement officer when everything happened," Akbar said.
Akbar says what his client did was inappropriate but not criminal.
“What this will come down to is whether he was using his authority as a law enforcement officer when he had sex with the person at his stop. It comes down to consent. I believe based on reading the probable cause affidavit and what comes out at the end, that it was consensual.”
At one point, Crump told the victim she was free to leave and didn’t have to follow him to Dorothy B. Oven Park, where the assault took place. Crump’s bond has been set at $25,000. He was fired from TPD the morning after the alleged assault took place. TPD Police Cheif Mike DeLeo has said Crump abused his authority.
