What to Know
- A judge says he's choosing probation over jail for two ex-NYC detectives accused of having sex in a police van with 18-year-old arrestee
- Eddie Martins and Richard Hall pleaded guilty Thursday to official misconduct and other charges stemming from the September 2017 encounter
- Judge Danny Chun said he'll sentence the men in October to five years of probation. Prosecutors wanted them jailed for at least a year
A judge says he's choosing probation over jail for two ex-New York City detectives accused of having sex in a police van with an 18-year-old woman they arrested.
Eddie Martins, 39, and Richard Hall, 34, pleaded guilty Thursday to official misconduct and bribe receiving stemming from the September 2017 encounter.
Judge Danny Chun said he'll sentence the men in October to five years of probation. Prosecutors wanted them jailed for at least a year.
The Brooklyn district attorney's office dropped 40 charges, including kidnapping, sexual assault and rape charges, against Martins and Hall in March, citing "serious credibility issues."
The young woman was driving with two friends near Coney Island in September 2017 when the two plainclothes detectives, who were at that time assigned to the NYPD's Brooklyn South Narcotics division, pulled her over and found marijuana and two Klonopin pills.
Prosecutors said the former officers had sex with the woman in their custody in exchange for her release.
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Citing evidence, prosecutors say the woman had sexual intercourse with Martins and performed a sex act on Hall. She was then driven back to the 60th Precinct in Coney Island and released her, giving her back the pills, prosecutors say, adding that the men never reported the incident to their supervisor.
After they released her, the woman went to the hospital, where prosecutors say DNA was obtained that matched both men.
A since-closed loophole in state law allowed police to escape sexual assault charges by claiming sex acts were consensual. While New York law already barred sex between prison guards and inmates, it didn't apply to officers and those in their custody.
Martins and Hall resigned in November 2017 before facing an administrative proceeding that could have resulted in their firing.
In a statement, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said: "These defendants engaged in a shocking abuse of power which they finally acknowledged. While I would have preferred to see them serve prison time, they are no longer members of our police department and with today's plea are convicted felons. As a result of this disturbing incident, New York passed a law to prohibit police officers from having sex with people in their custody, closing a loophole that had allowed officers to claim the sex was consensual. We could not apply the new law retroactively, and serious credibility issues in this case precluded us from proceeding on additional charges, yet we remained committed to holding these defendants accountable."
