Prosecutors said Monday that a judge ordered a Baltimore County, Maryland, police officer, guilty of raping a woman and assaulting another, to home detention.
According to NBC affiliate WBAL, Baltimore County Circuit Judge Keith Truffer postponed all but four years of Anthony Westerman’s 15-year jail sentence and ordered him to serve it at home.
Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenbergertold NBC News that the punishment was “not appropriate” for an officer who “should know as well as or better than others the reprehensibility of such an act.”
“I’m disappointed in the outcome,” he said. “I do not believe when you’re convicted of second-degree rape that home detention is appropriate and I certainly don’t believe only four years on this kind of crime is appropriate.”
He added, “I fear this could cause rape victims to hesitate to report their crimes if they do not feel like they will get justice.”
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