Sunday, June 01, 2008

Officer Sentenced to Year for Sexual Misconduct

A former Salisbury police officer convicted of misconduct for having sex with a woman he arrested was sentenced to a year in jail.

Twenty-seven year-old Tracy Ross Sparpaglione of Laurel was acquitted of rape, but found guilty on charges of misconduct in April. The former officer's attorney said an appeal was planned.

According to testimony at his bench trial, Sparpaglione had been an officer for about six months when he went to the 19-year-old woman's home last May, about four hours after arresting her for allegedly striking her mother-in-law with a filled water bottle.

Prosecutors argued that Sparpaglione intimidated the woman into having sex with him. But a defense attorney contended the sex was consensual and questioned the woman's credibility.

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