A former police officer convicted of sexually assaulting an intoxicated victim was HIV-positive at the time of the attack, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said Wednesday.
Deters’ office filed a new charge of felonious assault against Anthony Pecord, 48. Pecord has already been sentenced to four years in prison over the same incident — but prosecutors didn’t know he was HIV positive until after his conviction, according to Deters.
Neither did the victim.
“The trauma of a sexual assault is something that changes you forever,” Deters wrote in a statement. “To add to that the fear of contracting HIV is horrifying for the victim."
Pecord was a Loveland police officer at the time of the attack, which occurred on Jan. 24, 2021. Court documents indicate Pecord surreptitiously administered an intoxicant to the victim beforehand.
Pecord would be placed on paid administrative leave the following day, but kept his job for another month. He resigned in late February and surrendered himself to authorities March 5, facing charges of rape and sexual battery.
He was convicted of a comparatively minor charge — gross sexual imposition, a felony with a four-year sentence attached — on March 31.
At the time, Deters said the sentence was tied to the victim’s desire to move past the attack.
“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,” he wrote in a statement.
If convicted of felonious assault, Pecord could be sentenced to 8 more years in prison.
Deters’ office encouraged anyone who has had sexual contact with Pecord and who believes they may have been exposed to HIV through him to contact Hamilton County deputies at 513-595-7484.
