CINCINNATI — Former Loveland police officer Anthony Pecord was Wednesday convicted of gross sexual imposition and sentenced to four years in prison.
The charges of which Pecord was convicted are light compared to the ones he faced on March 5, the day of his arrest. When he surrendered himself to Hamilton County deputies, Pecord stood charged with two counts of rape; a grand jury added six additional rape charges and eight counts of sexual battery.
In a statement Wednesday, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said the sentence was tied to the victim’s desire to move past the attack.
“Thanks to Sheriff Deputy Jack Losekamp’s work, the photographic evidence of this crime was discovered, despite Pecord’s attempts to destroy it,” he said, adding later: “We are especially sensitive to the victim’s wishes in sexual assault cases. As a result of this plea, we were able to provide justice to this victim while allowing the victim to close this chapter of his life and begin the healing process. What is absolutely clear is Pecord should never, and will never, work in law enforcement again.”
Pecord had been accused of surreptitiously administering an intoxicant to the victim on Jan. 24 and having sex with them despite their inability to consent.
The accusation was known to Pecord’s department for more than a month before his arrest. Loveland police Chief Dannis Rahe put Pecord on paid administrative leave Jan. 25.
Pecord resigned a month later and turned himself in to authorities during the first week of March.
Wednesday’s conviction requires Pecord to register as a sex offender for the next 15 years.
