WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.
A Riviera Beach police officer appeared before a judge Monday, accused of sexually assaulting a woman whom he pulled over for running a red light.
Maurice Morris is accused of pulling over a driver in West Palm Beach and offering to rip up her tickets if she agreed to have sex with him.
"He ended up going upstairs to her apartment," West Palm Beach police Lt. Chuck Reed said. "While up there, he sexually battered her, sexually assaulted her and then left, and we have witnesses that watched him go in and out of this apartment."
The alleged incident took place in October while Morris was off duty but still in uniform and driving his patrol car.
Police said he used his badge to intimidate the woman.
Morris is a 20-year veteran of the Riviera Beach Police Department, including 13 years with the K-9 unit. His bond was set at $25,000.
His attorney said the indictment against Morris lacks facts.
"I mean, if you can't trust your police, we have a serious problem," Reed said.
This is the second recent blemish involving officers from Riviera Beach police's K-9 unit.
In September, four officers were reassigned after they were accused of visiting pornographic Web sites while on the job.
City leaders hope the allegations won't tarnish the department.
"Every now and then there's going to be allegations all over the place, but the good news is that these officers are putting their lives on the line every single day to protect our citizens," Riviera Beach Mayor Thomas Masters said.
Mayoral candidate Leonard Lovett said he feels Riviera Beach gets a bad rap because "there have been incidents that have happened in the West Palm Beach area, just short of the border, and the first thing they holler (is) Riviera Beach."
Morris' attorney told the judge that the indictment against her client lacked facts. She added that Morris has never been arrested before and has only received one traffic ticket.
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