A New Orleans police automobile patrols Bourbon Road.

Jonathan Bachman/Reuters

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Jonathan Bachman/Reuters

A New Orleans police automobile patrols Bourbon Road.

Jonathan Bachman/Reuters

A former New Orleans police officer is dealing with a federal cost associated to the alleged sexual assault of a sufferer, the Justice Division introduced on Thursday.

Whereas performing in his function as a New Orleans police officer, 55-year-old Rodney Vicknair allegedly dedicated a civil rights violation when he sexually assaulted a sufferer (recognized solely as V1 in court docket paperwork) two years in the past, the division stated.

Vicknair was charged by a invoice of data, and he has been ordered to look in court docket on Oct. 7.

This isn’t the primary time allegations of this nature have been made towards Vicknair.

Final yr, the mom of a 14-year-old woman sued Vicknair, claiming he had raped her daughter.

In Might 2020, Vicknair, in his capability as an officer, transported the unnamed teen to the hospital to obtain an examination following a rape. Vicknair used this incident to groom the woman for months, solely to later rape the woman himself not less than two instances, the mom alleges.

The lawsuit, filed in a U.S. District Court docket in Louisiana, additionally states that Vicknair “had an extended checklist of citizen complaints of unprofessional and unlawful conduct.” The mom can be suing the town of New Orleans, partly, for holding Vicknair on the power regardless of these considerations towards him, the lawsuit says.