Prince George's Deputy Convicted Of Raping Ex With Baby Nearby: Prosecutor

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MD — A Prince George's County sheriff's deputy has been found guilty of rape after a four-day trial by jury.

The assault happened Oct. 22, 2022, according to the county sheriff’s office. The victim said Cpl. Brandon Joel Burroughs, 37, contacted her that day and asked if he could come over. She gave him permission to go to her home but while there, the two began arguing, according to court documents.

Burroughs followed her into different rooms and refused to leave when told to go. He forced off the woman’s clothes and repeatedly struck her before raping her, court documents stated. Burroughs then left and the next day, the woman contacted the Prince George’s County Commissioner’s Office to obtain a protective order. Burroughs and the woman share a 1-year-old child who was in another room at the time of the rape.

“It was a … rape in her home after a relationship had already been concluded,” said assistant state’s attorney Chanel Jackson, who prosecuted the case. “The survivor had decided she no longer wanted to be in relationship with the defendant. He did not like that, and thus tried to force himself on her multiple times. And unfortunately in his last attempt, he sexually assaulted her.”

Prosecutors said Burroughs told police that the victim was mad at him because she was “a sidepiece and wants to be with me.” However the rape, which occurred in October 2022, was captured by recording equipment inside the victim’s home. Court documents show that the victim had a surveillance system inside the home at the time of the assault. The system was able to pick up the audio, which the victim was forced to listen to later on.

“We had an audio recording. Unfortunately, our survivor was a very unlucky person to have to have recorded her sexual assault without knowing that was what was going to happen,” Jackson said. “In her home, she has recordings. And so the recording picked up a sexual assault. And we were able to present that before the jury, where it wasn’t just her word against the defendant, it was a recording of what she had to endure in her own home.”

Burroughs had been suspended without pay and placed on a no-duty status. He will be sentenced in May. He is a 10-year veteran of the sheriff’s office.

Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy said at a news conference following the trial that officers are not exempt from the law.

"We’re talking about violation of an individual in the worst possible way. When you rape someone, you’re trying to take away their dignity,” she said.

Prince George's County Sheriff John D.B. Carr said that an internal investigation has been completed and that his department is moving forward in accordance with the Police Accountability Act of 2021 to address Burroughs’s employment at the sheriff’s office.