Austin Cop Suspended After Allegedly Sharing Sexual Assault Case Details With Suspect

AUSTIN, TX — An officer with the Austin Police Department was indefinitely suspended—a move tantamount to being fired—after sharing confidential information with a suspect in a sexual assault about his accuser in a case to which he was not assigned, according to a published report.

Citing an internal disciplinary memorandum, the Austin American-Statesman reported that Carlos Mayfield was indefinitely suspended on Friday. He has up to ten days to appeal his suspension, but a criminal investigation into his actions is now underfoot, the newspaper reported.

Mayfield reportedly admitted accessing the report at the behest of an ex-girlfriend, who is the mother of the sexual assault suspect, according to the memorandum referenced by the Statesman. The officer also acknowledged revealing details from the police report to the ex-girlfriend and her accused son—including providing the key detail that the woman accusing declined to undergo a rape kit examination, the newspaper reported.

“Disclosing this fact, which would otherwise never be disclosed to a suspect during the early stages of a police investigation, is unfathomable,” the memo reads. Ultimately, county prosecutors declined to pursue what they termed a "compromised" sexual assault case but did authorize the Sex Crimes Unit to file assault with injury charges against the suspect, the newspaper reported.

Even if Mayfield's conduct is deemed not to have crossed into criminality, his future in the APD is uncertain as a result of his actions because "....he cannot be entrusted to continue as a police officer with the APD," the memo reads, according to the newspaper.

It's unclear how long Mayfield has served on the force or to which unit he's assigned.

>>>Read the full story at Austin American-Statesman

Image via Shutterstock