By Gary L. Wright
The Charlotte Observer
CHARLOTTE — The tiniest bit of DNA found on the victim’s body helped convict Charlotte-Mecklenburg police Officer Joseph Anthony.
The veteran police officer, accused of sexually assaulting a 38-year-old woman last year, pleaded guilty Tuesday to assault on a female.
Mecklenburg Superior Court Judge Bob Bell placed Anthony on probation for two years, fined him $500 and ordered him to perform 24 hours of community service.
Bell also ordered Anthony, 39, to resign from the police force within 24 hours and to surrender his law enforcement training certification.
The victim told the judge she didn’t agree with the punishment.
“I don’t see how he can get off with a misdemeanor ... This man raped me,” she said. “I don’t understand.”
Anthony was indicted in January and charged with the felonies of first-degree kidnapping and first-degree sexual offense. The sex offense charge is punishable by up to life in prison. The kidnapping charge carries a maximum punishment of 21 years’ imprisonment.
But Mecklenburg Assistant District Attorney Samantha Pendergrass agreed to let Anthony plead guilty to the misdemeanor. She told the judge there were problems with the victim’s credibility.
The prosecutor told the judge that Anthony’s DNA was found on the victim. But she said the woman had told people the sexual contact was consensual. In an interview following the sentencing, Pendergrass said it’s virtually impossible for prosecutors to win sexual assault convictions if victims have said the sexual contact was consensual.
The Observer generally does not identify victims in cases that involve allegations of sexual assault.
The encounter occurred on Nov. 27 after the woman called 911 about a missing person, Pendergrass said. Anthony, who was on duty and in uniform, went to her home. The prosecutor said the assault occurred after Anthony searched the woman and her home.
Defense attorney George Laughrun challenged the victim’s claim that she had been raped.
“Make no mistake about it, this woman was not raped,” the defense lawyer told the judge. “It’s a downright lie.”
The defense lawyer said his client was guilty of assault on a female. “He did cross the line,” Laughrun said. “He crossed the line when he grabbed her breasts.”
But Laughrun told the judge that Anthony, who is married and has two children, has been suffering since the sexual assault allegations became public. He said his client’s photograph had appeared in the newspaper and on TV, along with stories about the assault.
“He will never be a police officer again,” Laughrun said. “He’s been held up to ridicule. He has been punished for this conduct already.”
But the victim wasn’t happy with what happened in court.
“I don’t feel I got any justice,” she told reporters. “It feels like he took my whole life away. ... How can he get off with a simple assault?”
Copyright 2008 The Charlotte Observer