Police Officers Indicted for Sexual Abuse

The two police officers accused of sexually assaulting a Brooklyn woman they initially stopped for a traffic violation two and a half weeks ago were indicted for sexual abuse yesterday by the Brooklyn DA. It turns out that four more women stepped forward to say that police officers Fernand Clerge and Charles McGeean had abused them as well (the DA's office has only charged the two for one assault). Earlier reports that the victim knew the police officers before are cleared up in the report: Apparently she had been pulled over before by the pair and they asked for her phone number. She did so willing, "believing it would free her from citation," and received two calls from them, according to the Times. During the November 20 assault, the police officers had followed the victim home after a traffic stop and molested her in her apartment; the DA says Clerge's DNA was found in the apartment.

McGeean's lawyer is skeptical of the new claims, saying, "These officers' pricture have been in the news, so it is not surprising that other who have come in contact with them would make these allegations. Where were these supposed victims before?" Perhaps they were scared of police retribution, as one source tells the Daily News. And Ron Kuby says, "There is strength in numbers and they are confident their complaints won't be ignored and that they won't face retaliation from officers involved or their colleagues."