FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A Lauderhill police officer is accused of trying to coerce a homeless woman into performing a sexual act, and officials believe there may be more victims.
Officer Jamar Lee, 28, was charged after a nearly two-year investigation into his encounter with the victim, described in a police report as a woman driving a Saturn that was parked outside a closed Dunkin Donuts in the 1500 block of North State Road 7 after 3 a.m. on Feb. 25, 2020.
According to the arrest report, Lee ordered the woman to follow him to the 4000 block of Northwest 16th Street so he could consult with other officers. The woman complied, but when they arrived, no one else was there, the report states.
After complimenting the woman on her looks and brushing his hand along the victim’s hip and leg, according to the report, Lee asked, “What are you going to do for me if I let you go?” He then allegedly guided the woman’s hand to his crotch and asked for oral sex, promising the woman money and a place to stay if she remained quiet.
The woman got away when Lee asked her to follow him to a second location, according to the report.
Investigators were able to confirm the locations given by the woman through the GPS on Lee’s patrol car. “The defendant met multiple women on calls for service and used a second cell phone to contact them in attempts to arrange sexual encounters,” the report states. No other charges have been filed other than the ones stemming from the Feb. 2020 incident.
The charges were filed in December 2021 — one count of battery, a misdemeanor, and one count of unlawful compensation, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison.
Lee’s attorney, Johnny McCray, denied the allegations. “We are confident he not only will be acquitted, but vindicated as well,” McCray said.
Lee was with the Lauderhill Police Department for just a year and two months at the time of the incident, McCray said. In that time he had received more than one officer-of-the-month recommendation. He is also an Army veteran and was honorably discharged. Lee is a former corrections deputy with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office for almost three years, McCray said.
Information about his work status at Lauderhill was not immediately available Tuesday.
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