Felony Friday: Sheriff Caught Using Badge To Threaten Prostitute Into Performing Sexual Acts
John Odermatt
A deputy sheriff from the most populous county in Illinois, Cook County, has been charged with attempted aggravated criminal sexual assault for allegedly soliciting and threatening a prostitute. The fifty-two-year-old Sherriff’s Deputy Fernando B. Rodriguez has been working for the county since July 1, 1991. Which begs the question: are there prior victims that have not yet come forward?
Rodriguez was ordered held in lieu of $10,000 bail Thursday in Cook County court. He’s been charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault, aggravated unlawful restraint, and official misconduct. Each charge is a felony.
The Chicago Tribune has the scoop on the details of the arrest:
When Chicago police officers noticed a car double parked and partially blocking an alley in the 1500 block of North Avers Avenue around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, Sheriff’s Deputy Fernando B. Rodriguez tried to wave them off, saying: “It’s OK guys, I’m on the job,” according to court documents.
A woman, who police said was a known prostitute, got out of the passenger seat and told the officers Rodriguez asked her to enter the car, then told her he was a police officer and displayed a holstered handgun, according to court documents.
Assistant State’s Attorney Beth Novy said Thursday that the woman told the officers that Rodriguez, who was off duty at the time, implied a sexual act and told the woman “if she handled this the right way, he would let her go.”
According to authorities this was not the first time Rodriguez was seen driving around the area, which is known for prostitution. Novy claims officers saw Rodriguez driving around the same area in November. No details have been revealed as to the circumstances surrounding that sighting.
It will not be surprising if other victims of this alleged predator come forward now that he has been exposed. If guilty, then this cop is a huge scumbag, but he also serves as a reminder as to why prohibiting prostitution actually makes people less safe.
It is important to understand the immorality of having a government use force to dictate how one is permitted to use their body. Consenting adults should be free to choose who they have sex with. The transactions adults make in private should not be interfered with by a government that is not acting upon the consent of the governed. As long as violence is not used to force someone into service, a transaction for prostitution services does not infringe upon one’s individual rights.
Of course, in the incident above, it is alleged that violence was used and sexual acts demanded were not consensual, so this police officer certainly deserves to be held accountable and punished if found guilty of the charges he is accused.
It is common knowledge that transactions occurring on the black market (i.e. prostitution, drug dealing) are less safe and more likely to result in violence being used. This violent encounter between a police officer and a sex worker illustrates this fact. The officer likely felt comfortable threatening the sex worker with violence if she did not comply with his demands, because it is less likely she would seek assistance from law enforcement due to the nature of her line of work. A prostitute that has been the victim of a crime is not likely to seek out assistance from law enforcement, because doing so would require admitting that she is breaking the law by the nature of her profession. This exemplifies why black market transactions more frequently lead to violence.
Deputy Rodriguez is the epitome of a cop that believes he’s above the law. Not only is he a terrible hypocrite for attempting to use a prostitute while he would throw a common citizen in jail for doing the same, but he used his gun and badge directly to coerce sexual favors, rather than paying for them. This guy could be the poster boy for police abuse. The people of Cook County should breathe a bit easier knowing this predator is off the street.
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