Cop charged with raping woman during traffic stop

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/p.../NEWS/60628035

Laurel officer charged with raping woman during car stop

By CRIS BARRISH and TERRI SANGINITI
The News Journal 06/28/2006

A Laurel police officer was arrested today for allegedly raping a
55-year-old Delmar, Md., woman during an early morning car stop in
March.

Officer Kevin D. Hovatter, 28, of Laurel, was charged with two counts
of first-degree rape, official misconduct and acts constituting
coercion. He was released on $72,000 secured bail.

Hovatter had been on paid administrative leave, Laurel police said
last month after state police began an investigation.

According to court records, Hovatter, who was in uniform, on duty and
driving a marked patrol car, followed the victim and her husband about
3 a.m. on March 25 as they were driving on U.S. 13A out of Laurel. He
stopped them as they neared Delmar, Del.

The officer told the woman to get out of the car, according to court
records, and she told her husband to go as she was being placed in the
back of the patrol car. Police said in court records the victim’s
husband was a habitual suspended driver, which is probably why he left
the scene.

The victim told investigators the officer then drove her to a dark
road where he forced her to engage in sex acts with him. She said the
sex was not consensual and that she complied because the officer was
in a position of authority and she perceived “the threat of death or
physical injury by the armed officer if she did not comply.”

When the investigator interviewed Hovatter, the officer acknowledged
he did have contact with the woman while in his official capacity, but
denied he had sexual contact with her.

When DNA samples taken from the victim and the officer were analyzed
for comparison at the state Medical Examiner’s Office, however,
officials determined that the woman’s sample was consistent with the
officer’s DNA profile.

Neither Hovatter nor Laurel Police Chief Jamie Wilson could be reached
for comment.

----------------------------------------------

Pretty fishy story. Cop 28, victim 55. And the victim's hubby ran
off?

Sounds like the woman chose to provide services in exchange for
avoiding tickets, but then decided to pursue action against the cop for
whatever reason. Maybe he wrote the ticket after all. Who knows...

laura bush - VEHICULAR HOMICIDE wrote:
> http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/p.../NEWS/60628035
>
> Laurel officer charged with raping woman during car stop
>
> By CRIS BARRISH and TERRI SANGINITI
> The News Journal 06/28/2006
>
> A Laurel police officer was arrested today for allegedly raping a
> 55-year-old Delmar, Md., woman during an early morning car stop in
> March.
>
> Officer Kevin D. Hovatter, 28, of Laurel, was charged with two counts
> of first-degree rape, official misconduct and acts constituting
> coercion. He was released on $72,000 secured bail.
>
> Hovatter had been on paid administrative leave, Laurel police said
> last month after state police began an investigation.
>
> According to court records, Hovatter, who was in uniform, on duty and
> driving a marked patrol car, followed the victim and her husband about
> 3 a.m. on March 25 as they were driving on U.S. 13A out of Laurel. He
> stopped them as they neared Delmar, Del.
>
> The officer told the woman to get out of the car, according to court
> records, and she told her husband to go as she was being placed in the
> back of the patrol car. Police said in court records the victim's
> husband was a habitual suspended driver, which is probably why he left
> the scene.
>
> The victim told investigators the officer then drove her to a dark
> road where he forced her to engage in sex acts with him. She said the
> sex was not consensual and that she complied because the officer was
> in a position of authority and she perceived "the threat of death or
> physical injury by the armed officer if she did not comply."
>
> When the investigator interviewed Hovatter, the officer acknowledged
> he did have contact with the woman while in his official capacity, but
> denied he had sexual contact with her.
>
> When DNA samples taken from the victim and the officer were analyzed
> for comparison at the state Medical Examiner's Office, however,
> officials determined that the woman's sample was consistent with the
> officer's DNA profile.
>
> Neither Hovatter nor Laurel Police Chief Jamie Wilson could be reached
> for comment.
>
> ----------------------------------------------
>
> Pretty fishy story. Cop 28, victim 55. And the victim's hubby ran
> off?

"E/C Annie" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Lot more detail in this article. Can't believe this officer thought
> he'd get away with this. Probably thought she'd never open her mouth
> because she has a record.

Well, don't neglect the possibility that he didn't do it.

Even if her story is true, she does not appear to have ever said 'no',
or indicated non-consent. She says that she feared for her life, but
she never says that he threatened her. The way she tells it (assuming
100% credibility on her part), how was he to know she wasn't
willing? She even suggested to him that she would like to meet
up with him later!


>
> Laurel officer charged in rape
> DNA evidence of passenger in traffic stop leads to arrest
> By CRIS BARRISH and TERRI SANGINITI
> The News Journal
> 06/29/2006
>
> State police charged a Laurel police officer Wednesday in the March
> rape of a 55-year-old woman during an early-morning traffic stop near
> Delmar.
>
> Cpl. Kevin D. Hovatter, 28, of Laurel, was charged with two counts of
> rape and single counts of official misconduct and coercion. Hovatter
> was arraigned and freed on $72,000 secured bail. A preliminary hearing
> has been scheduled for July 6 in Sussex County Court of Common Pleas.
>
> Hovatter, a four-year veteran of the force, could not be reached late
> Wednesday.
> Advertisement
>
> He had been on paid administrative leave since the woman contacted
> police March 25, about 12 hours after the attack, Laurel chief Michael
> J. Wilson said. Wednesday, Wilson placed Hovatter on unpaid leave
> pending the case's outcome.
>
> "This is alarming to us," Wilson said.
>
> The victim contacted The News Journal in May with details about the
> "absolutely horrifying" assault. Key details she discussed were
> virtually identical to those in the arrest affidavit filed Wednesday.
>
> Hovatter had admitted to state police detectives that he had the woman
> in his cruiser about 3 a.m. March 25, but he said no sexual contact had
> occurred, the affidavit said.
>
> Laboratory results received by detectives last week, however, showed
> that DNA on the woman's underwear matched Hovatter's, police said.
>
> Detectives questioned Hovatter again Wednesday, and he again denied
> having sexual contact with the woman, state police spokesman Cpl. Jeff
> Oldham said.
>
> The name of the woman is being withheld by the newspaper in keeping
> with its policy of not identifying sexual assault victims. Repeated
> attempts to reach her Wednesday were unsuccessful.
>
> Victim told to get in cruiser
>
> According to Hovatter's arrest affidavit, he was in uniform, on duty
> and driving a marked patrol car at about 3 a.m. March 25 when he
> followed the victim and her husband as they drove a blue Ford sedan on
> U.S. 13A out of Laurel. He stopped them as they neared Delmar, Del.
>
> The officer told the woman to get out of the car, the affidavit said,
> and she told her husband to leave the scene as she was being placed in
> the back of the patrol car. Police said in court records the victim's
> husband was a habitual suspended driver, which is probably why he drove
> away.
>
> At about 2 p.m. that day, the victim contacted investigators and said
> the officer drove her to a dark road, where he ordered her out of the
> car then forced her to engage in sex acts, the affidavit said.
>
> She said the sex was not consensual, and she complied because the
> officer was in a position of authority and she perceived "the threat of
> death or physical injury by the armed officer if she did not comply,"
> the affidavit said.
>
> Afterward, the affidavit said, "she thought that he was going to shoot
> her in the head but instead he told her get in the car ... then took
> her home."
>
> Investigation begins
>
> A detective interviewed Hovatter at about 5:30 p.m. March 25, and he
> "advised he never had any sexual contact" with the woman, the affidavit
> said.
>
> However, when DNA samples taken from the victim and the officer were
> analyzed at the state Medical Examiner's Office, it was determined that
> the woman's sample was consistent with the officer's DNA profile.
>
> Chief Wilson, who took over the 12-person force of the western Sussex
> town in mid-April, said Hovatter's arrest could damage officers'
> credibility.
>
> "I'm trying to turn around and put a new outlook on things for the
> citizens toward us," Wilson said. "This is a hard hit."
>
> Victim recounts meeting officer
>
> On May 18, the woman contacted the newspaper and said she thought the
> police were not taking her case seriously.
>
> At the time, state police said they were awaiting the DNA results.
>
> In an hourlong telephone interview, she gave a detailed account of the
> encounter.
>
> On a Friday night, March 24, she had spent time watching a band at the
> Goose Pit in Laurel, and had a few vodka drinks.
>
> "I was not intoxicated," she said.
>
> When the club let out at 2 a.m., she left and walked to a nearby
> laundromat, where she phoned her husband for a ride home.
>
> While waiting for him to arrive, a town of Laurel police cruiser pulled
> up, and the officer, who she said she later learned was Hovatter, asked
> why she was standing alone.
>
> "I'm going home. Is there a problem, sir?" she recalled saying.
>
> She said Hovatter replied: "I'm wondering why you are standing here.
> What are you going to do after you get home?"
>
> Her husband arrived minutes later, and the pair drove way.
>
> After a couple of turns, her husband, who was driving with a suspended
> license, told her they were being followed by a police car.
>
> The cruiser disappeared from their view momentarily, but then lights
> from a police vehicle behind them signaled her husband to pull over.
>
> The officer appeared at the driver's side window, and shined a
> flashlight in her husband's face.
>
> "Can you tell me why you stopped us?" she recalled asking.
>
> She said the officer told her to get out of the sedan.
>
> She complied and told her husband to leave, and he drove away. Her
> husband, who also spoke to the newspaper last month, said he left
> because, "I didn't have a license."
>
> The woman, who said she has a criminal record, including convictions
> for public drunkenness, disorderly conduct a few years ago and for
> robbery in the early 1970s, said she feared there might be a warrant
> out for her arrest, but couldn't think of any reason she might be
> wanted.
>
> She got in the back seat "and he did not handcuff me," she said.
>
> Fearing for her life
>
> The officer began driving down a rural road and stopped the vehicle.
> The victim said Hovatter raped here there.
>
> "I thought, 'I don't believe this is happening,' " she said, and she
> thought, "Now I know he's going to kill me."
>
> Instead, she said, he zipped his pants and ordered her into the car.
>
> "I also told him, 'I can meet you later' ... I didn't want him to think
> I was going to turn him in," she said.
>
> Hovatter dropped her off at a retail store near her home, she said. "He
> told me tell my husband it was a mistaken identity," and that's what
> she did, the woman said.
>
> Later, she said, she called her sister, who asked her what was wrong.
> She recounted the assault, and her sister persuaded her to go to
> Nanticoke Memorial Hospital in Seaford and contact police.
>
> As the weeks passed without an arrest, the woman said she had
> difficulty contacting the detective on her case, and became fearful for
> her safety because Hovatter was free and knew where she lived.
>
> "I'm scared to walk to my door," she told The News Journal. "Every time
> I walk to my door I think it's him."
>
> http://tinyurl.com/fyvj7
>

laura bush - VEHICULAR HOMICIDE > wrote:

>http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/p.../NEWS/60628035
>
>Laurel officer charged with raping woman during car stop
>By CRIS BARRISH and TERRI SANGINITI
>The News Journal 06/28/2006
>
>A Laurel police officer was arrested today for allegedly raping a
>55-year-old Delmar, Md., woman during an early morning car stop in
>March.
>
>Officer Kevin D. Hovatter, 28, of Laurel, was charged with two counts
>of first-degree rape, official misconduct and acts constituting
>coercion. He was released on $72,000 secured bail.

Let's see now ... he's 28, the alleged victim is 55. Sounds
more like a case of wishful thinking on the 'victims' part
than a likely crime.

"Scott en Aztlán" > wrote in message
...
> On Sat, 01 Jul 2006 18:45:10 GMT, laura bush - VEHICULAR HOMICIDE
> > wrote:
>
>>Pretty fishy story. Cop 28, victim 55. And the victim's hubby ran
>>off?
>
> "Go home, honey - I'll get myself out of this speeding ticket."

Yeah, then when she gets home, he finds out
*how* she got off, and it must have been "Rape"

"E/C Annie" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>
> Michael Snyder wrote:
> > "E/C Annie" > wrote in message
> > oups.com...
> > > Lot more detail in this article. Can't believe this officer thought
> > > he'd get away with this. Probably thought she'd never open her mouth
> > > because she has a record.
> >
> > Well, don't neglect the possibility that he didn't do it.
> >
> > Even if her story is true, she does not appear to have ever said 'no',
> > or indicated non-consent. She says that she feared for her life, but
> > she never says that he threatened her. The way she tells it (assuming
> > 100% credibility on her part), how was he to know she wasn't
> > willing? She even suggested to him that she would like to meet
> > up with him later!
>
> True enough. However, why did he lie and say there was no sexual
> contact? He denied it in March and again this week after DNA results
> came in.

My interpretation is that she made that statement *after* the rape, in an
effort to make him think she was not going to contact authorities. As she
said 'she was in fear for her life' at the time.

Fearing for her life

The officer began driving down a rural road and stopped the vehicle.
The victim said Hovatter raped here there.

"I thought, 'I don't believe this is happening,' " she said, and she
thought, "Now I know he's going to kill me."

Instead, she said, he zipped his pants and ordered her into the car.

"I also told him, 'I can meet you later' ... I didn't want him to think
I was going to turn him in," she said.


td

B1ackWater wrote:
> laura bush - VEHICULAR HOMICIDE > wrote:
>
> >http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/p.../NEWS/60628035
> >
> >Laurel officer charged with raping woman during car stop
> >By CRIS BARRISH and TERRI SANGINITI
> >The News Journal 06/28/2006
> >
> >A Laurel police officer was arrested today for allegedly raping a
> >55-year-old Delmar, Md., woman during an early morning car stop in
> >March.
> >
> >Officer Kevin D. Hovatter, 28, of Laurel, was charged with two counts
> >of first-degree rape, official misconduct and acts constituting
> >coercion. He was released on $72,000 secured bail.
>
> Let's see now ... he's 28, the alleged victim is 55. Sounds
> more like a case of wishful thinking on the 'victims' part
> than a likely crime.

turdwater, one of the sickest damn reichwing ****s on the Internet.
Asshole, there are cases of 80 year old women being raped. But of
course, you know from your own sexual deviancies, sex for some is about
power, not desire.

On Sun, 2 Jul 2006 00:24:12 -0400, "tiny dancer"
> wrote:


>Fearing for her life
>
>The officer began driving down a rural road and stopped the vehicle.
>The victim said Hovatter raped here there.
>
>"I thought, 'I don't believe this is happening,' " she said, and she
>thought, "Now I know he's going to kill me."
>
>Instead, she said, he zipped his pants and ordered her into the car.
>
>"I also told him, 'I can meet you later' ... I didn't want him to think
>I was going to turn him in," she said.

Remember that she was taken from a car where someone else was allowed
to drive away. Had she turned up dead, or never turned up at all, the
cop would have had to hunt down and dispose of that inconvenient
witness, wouldn't he?

It just all, both sides, sounds pretty hokey to me.
--

r.bc: vixen
Speaker to squirrels, willow watcher, etc..
Often taunted by trout. Almost entirely harmless. Really.

http://www.visi.com/~cyli

On Sun, 02 Jul 2006 03:07:56 GMT, B1ackWater > wrote:


>
> Let's see now ... he's 28, the alleged victim is 55. Sounds
> more like a case of wishful thinking on the 'victims' part
> than a likely crime.

Some women are still pretty good looking at 55. And we don't know his
preferences.

If it was wishful thinking, then it's very odd that his sperm turned
up in her undies for DNA testing isn't it? Some really powerful
thoughts there...
--

r.bc: vixen
Speaker to squirrels, willow watcher, etc..
Often taunted by trout. Almost entirely harmless. Really.

http://www.visi.com/~cyli

bernard farquart wrote:

> "Scott en Aztlán" > wrote in message
> ...

>>>Pretty fishy story. Cop 28, victim 55. And the victim's hubby ran
>>>off?

>>"Go home, honey - I'll get myself out of this speeding ticket."

> Yeah, then when she gets home, he finds out
> *how* she got off, and it must have been "Rape"

Well, it is one way to actually make money off of a traffic citation
instead of losing it ...