This photo provided by the Montgomery County Detention Center in April 2021, shows Christopher Bauer. On Friday, June 14, 2024, the former FBI agent was convicted of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl while serving as an Alabama state trooper — a law enforcement job he landed even after he was kicked out of the FBI amid earlier claims that he raped a co-worker at knifepoint.
Bauer, 44, was found guilty of first-degree sodomy and sexual abuse of a child under 12 following a weeklong trial during which his attorneys claimed the girl had made up the allegations. He faces up to life behind bars at an Aug. 1 sentencing."Nobody is above the law, including our police officers," he said in a statement."He needs to be removed from our streets forever."
Jurors also saw a recording of the child's 2021 interview with a child abuse investigator in which she described the same abuse. The FBI has said Bauer forged a letter that scrubbed his record clean and helped clear the way to his hiring by the Alabama state police in 2019. The document, obtained by AP, confirmed his decade of"creditable service" and deemed him"eligible for rehire."
The case also highlights the slipshod system of decertification in the United States in which problematic officers have remained in law enforcement by joining a new agency or relocating to a different state. For years, federal law enforcement agencies did not provide data on fired or disciplined agents to the National Decertification Index.
Law Law Latest News, Law Law Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: manilabulletin - 🏆 25. / 51 Read more »