« Update: Body found behind Johnston school ID'd | Today | Amgen vice president of operations leaving company »

August 1, 2007

Providence police officer indicted on rape charge

PROVIDENCE -- Patrolman Marcus Huffman, a 13-year-veteran of the police force, was indicted today on a rape charge and immediately suspended from duty without pay.

The Providence County grand jury handed up an indictment charging that Huffman vaginally penetrated a woman on March 18 "at a time when he knew or had reason to know that she was mentally incapacitated, mentally disabled, or physically helpless." Under the law, the alleged offense is formally called first-degree sexual assault.

When Huffman reported for duty on the 3 to 11 p.m. work shift, he was informed that he was suspended without pay due to the indictment, said police Maj. Paul C. Fitzgerald, commander of the Uniformed Division.

Huffman, 37, of West Warwick, had been on restricted duty while the case was under investigation, monitoring the metal detector at the entrance to the Public Safety Complex.

The complaint by the woman, a 20-year-old Fall River, Mass., resident, has been jointly investigated by the State Police and the city police. Fitzgerald declined to discuss the case.

Huffman is due to be arraigned in Superior Court, Providence, on Aug. 15, according to a press release from the Attorney General's Office on today's grand jury indictments.

-- Journal staff writer Gregory Smith

Posted by Mike McKinney  at 6:11 PM | Permalink

Comments

Post a comment

Please be civil. Vicious comments, personal attacks and profanity won't be published. Name and email are required; email address will not publish.

Name:

Email Address:

URL:
Remember Me? YesNo

Comments: (you may use HTML tags for style)