Handling of Davie police officer's criminal sex case questioned: Did Davie officer get special treatment after crime reported?

Nov 16, 2008 (Sun Sentinel - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- MCD | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Strapping a gun to your side and coercing a woman to perform a sex act is usually called sexual battery. Doing it to an intoxicated woman while on duty and wearing your police uniform can lead to abuse-of-power charges and years behind bars.

But after a local officer was accused of doing just that, Davie police and prosecutors decided on a different charge: unlawful compensation.

Former Officer Jonathan D. Sanders, 30, elicited a "benefit not authorized by law, to wit: oral sex" from a Davie woman who feared she would be arrested if she did not comply, according to the charging documents. When detectives found out, they never interrogated Sanders and a supervisor allowed him to listen in on a call between officers and the man who reported the incident, records show.

Sanders, of Sunrise, pleaded no contest in May to unlawful compensation, spent 60 days in jail on a 90-day sentence and was not formally designated a felon. That's despite DNA evidence, witnesses who talked with the sobbing victim minutes after the encounter, and Sanders' initial claim that he unzipped his pants simply so he could urinate outside while on duty.

Now Davie is fighting a lawsuit by the victim, the police chief and town administrator aren't talking, and some elected officials are complaining they didn't even know about the incident or the lawsuit until contacted by the Sun Sentinel.

"The leaders of the town should know what's going on in town -- even if it's bad," Councilman Bryan Caletka said. "I expect better from the Davie Police Department."

Sanders, who gave up his law enforcement certification and was placed on probation for three years as part of the plea deal, could not be reached for comment despite five phone calls to his home. His attorney, Tony Livoti, said Sanders served with distinction.

"Officer Sanders was an outstanding police officer and a decorated [ Iraq] War veteran who made a terrible mistake and he's paying for it," Livoti said.

The Sun Sentinel is not identifying the woman because of the sexual nature of the crime, but did review transcripts of her videotaped statement, court records and police reports. They provide this account:

The 32-year-old woman had been arguing with her boyfriend after midnight Sept. 3, 2007, near a Davie gas station. The couple went their separate ways when Sanders and two other officers arrived.

Minutes later, Sanders approached the woman in his marked cruiser and asked "if she needed anything." When she complained about not having money, he offered to give her some cash at a nearby McDonald's.

The woman arrived about 1 a.m. to find Sanders urinating behind a dumpster.

The woman, who admitted to being "quite tipsy," said Sanders told her "You don't want to be any trouble, do you? I need you to do me a favor," and then exposed himself.

The woman said she felt she would be jailed if she refused his advances.

After the encounter, Sanders gave the woman $5 and threatened to arrest her if she told anyone what happened, she said.

Thirty minutes later, he approached the woman again while she was walking along Southwest 39th Street and told her to meet him at the Bergeron Rodeo Arena. She said she worried he might arrest her if she didn't show up. At the arena, she said, he told her "I want some more" and unzipped his pants.

The woman said she felt she had no choice but to follow the officer's orders again.

"It seemed like it was either that or go to jail," she told detectives.

Records show detectives reacted immediately to the allegations. The victim was interviewed on videotape within hours and some of her clothing was sent to the Broward Sheriff's Office crime lab for processing of a semen sample. The next day, Sanders was put on administrative leave with pay.

But the files raise questions about whether police withheld information or gave Sanders special treatment. For example, the police report leaves blank Sanders' place of employment. Detectives did not attempt to elicit a confession or contradictory statements from him, a common law enforcement tactic. And, less than seven hours after the encounter, a police supervisor let Sanders listen in on a conference call with the victim's ex-husband, who reported the incident.

Davie Police Chief Patrick Lynn, who was not on the force at the time of the incident, declined to comment.

Police deleted the woman's name from all records because the crime is considered rape, Sgt. Kelly Drum said. Yet the police department and prosecutors charged Sanders with unlawful compensation, saying he exchanged sex for the "past, present, or future performance (or) non-performance" of his duty, according to the charging document.

Prosecutor Michael Horowitz acknowledged the woman had committed no crime and could not legally have been arrested, despite Sanders' threats.

He said his office agreed to the plea based on a review of all the evidence -- including the fact the victim had been drinking all day and taking the drug methadone to treat an addiction. The difficulty of proving sexual battery led to the felony plea and ensured Sanders would never again work as a police officer, he said.

"Listen, it's easy to point out this piece of evidence or that fact and say we could have done something different," Horowitz said. "But when you look at ... the strengths or weaknesses of the case, this was a plea offer that I felt was fair based on all the facts."

Sanders, who had less than three years on the force, continued to draw a paycheck on his $51,100 salary until he resigned in March. He reported to jail on May 23 and was released on July 21.

Jeffrey Waxman, the woman's attorney, filed a lawsuit in Broward Circuit Court seeking more than $15,000 in damages from the town.

The suit claims the woman suffered irreparable mental anguish after being falsely restrained, imprisoned, battered and subjected to unreasonable use of force by Sanders. The town claims the woman's actions were consensual.

Details of the incident surfaced two weeks ago when Davie police released documents six months after the Sun Sentinel requested all files on closed internal investigations. Under Florida law, the department was compelled to immediately release the documents or specify, in writing, its reason for withholding the information. Davie police did neither.

Drum said even though the internal affairs investigation concluded on March 18, he felt he couldn't acknowledge the file existed until the criminal case was resolved.

Davie Police Lt. Bill Coyne said the Sanders' case was an aberration.

"Not all cops are bad," Coyne said. "I'm sure every agency across the country has a bad apple."

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