A former New York police officer, who admitted to raping a child, has been sentenced to ten weekends in prison. In March this year, Shawn Jordan admitted that he assaulted the 13-year-old in the summer of 2022, the NY Post reported, adding it was at least one of the two alleged sexual crimes committed by the 40-year-old former cop.
According to the Ontario County District Attorney’s Office, the arrangement was a result of their having to decide whether to accept the guilty plea or assess the consequences of the victim’s deponing against the convict. The DA Office did not like Jordan’s sentence but expressed the hope that anything similar wouldn’t occur in the future.
Kathryn Robb, national director of the Children’s Justice Campaign at the Enough Abuse organization, told The Guardian that the sentences were an “epitome of injustice”.
“It was a dangerous nod to child sexual predators letting them know, ‘No worries, we won’t go too hard on you,'” Kathryn said. The little girl will be imprisoned by her memories for life, she said, adding, while the rapist loses a mere 20 days of his liberty.
Kelly Wolford, assistant district attorney of Ontario County, said that the case was an “ultimate tragedy” because these parents trusted him. “He’s a police officer, and if we can’t trust the police, then who can we trust?” she asked
“Because this was a child who trusted somebody, and he was an adult who knew better.”
In another instance, authorities in Monroe County charged him with exposing himself to a 16-year-old girl over a video call in the spring of 2023. Investigators claim that he touched his genitalia on camera while wearing his uniform in a police car, for which he was suspended from the Rochester Police Department.
It is made clear by the Ontario County District Attorney’s Office that Jordan’s guilty plea in the rape case does not absolve him of the allegations in Monroe County.
Jordan was sentenced on Wednesday by state judge Kristina Karle to ten years on probation and ten weekends in jail as part of a plea deal reached in the Ontario County case. Jordan was also told to register as a sex offender and pay fines.
