Crime & Safety
Elizabeth Police Officer Charged With Sexual Assault
Samaad I. Bethea, 22, is charged with 2nd-degree sexual assault and 4th-degree criminal sexual contact.
ELIZABETH, NJ — An Elizabeth Police Officer was charged with sexual assault following a Union County grand jury indictment, acting Union County Prosecutor Michael A. Monahan announced.
Samaad I. Bethea, 22, is charged with second-degree sexual assault and fourth-degree criminal sexual contact.
The charges followed a nearly two-month investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office’s Professional Standards Unit that found Bethea committed the alleged assault against an adult female victim in Elizabeth on Dec. 14, 2018. The victim was not seriously physically injured, according to the report.
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The grand jury returned its indictment late Friday afternoon, and a first appearance in the case has been scheduled for Tuesday morning in the Union County Jail’s second-floor courtroom.
Bethea faces 5 to 10 years in state prison on the second-degree criminal charges.
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