Crime & Safety
Ex-Ocean City Cop Admits To Sexual Abuse Of Teen Over 5 Years
Former Ocean City sergeant Tyrone Rolls pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child and will have to register as a sex offender.
OCEAN CITY, NJ — A former sergeant from the Ocean City Police Department pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child after an investigation revealed he had sexually assaulted a local girl starting when she was 15 and lasting for five years, officials said.
Tyrone Rolls, 51, of Marmora, faces a minimum five year sentence in New Jersey State Prison, a sex offense restraining order allowing no contact with the victim and forfeiture of all future public employment due to his guilty plea, Cape May County Prosecutor Jeffrey H. Sutherland said.
After his state prison term, Rolls would be subject to registering on the Megan's Law Sex Offender Registry and parole supervision for the rest of his life, Sutherland said.
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Rolls was initially charged on April 7, 2021 and indicted on Nov. 16, 2021, Sutherland said.
The affidavit of probable cause said that the assaults began in 2016 before the start of the victim's sophomore year at Ocean City High School and continued for five years. She was 20 at the time of his initial charges.
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The complaint alleged that the assaults occurred at Rolls' home and in his patrol vehicle while he was both on- and off-duty, and that Rolls hit the victim with an open hand and knocked her to the ground during a fight the two reportedly had at the beginning of the year.
According to the complaint, she reported staying down on the ground for fear he would hit her again. Rolls allegedly said to her, “Now you know what it is like to be hit."
The victim said she had suffered concussions in the past and believed their reported fight caused another one, the complaint alleges.
Rolls had been employed by the Ocean City Police Department since 1996.
He also was a youth sports coach and had a display describing his accolades and community service awards in the Ocean City Historical Museum, according to a 2019 Ocean City Police Department Instagram post.
Rolls' sentencing is set for May 19.
This article contains additional reporting by Kimberlee Bongard.
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