An officer with the New Orleans Police Department is facing life in prison over allegations that he raped a 7-year-old girl, reported RawStory.
Officer Michael Thomassie, a 13-year veteran, is accused of raping a young girl and forcing her to perform oral sex on him. Child abuse investigator Sgt. Lawrence Jones of the NOPD testified that he thought it suspicious that Thomassie failed to report that he’d been accused of raping the girl, who is his girlfriend’s daughter.
“You don’t get to keep that secret,” said Jones. “You let a supervisor know about something as serious as that. It’s a requirement for the police department to report if you’re being accused of a crime.”
The victim, now 19, testified that Thomassie had raped her in the living room of their home. She also testified about how the accused forced her into performing oral sex. The mother said she heard screaming and woke up to find her daughter being abused. Jones noted that Thomassie’s silence about the accusations was a red flag.
“He said whenever (the girlfriend) became angry, she would accuse him of that and say she was going to tell somebody,” Jones added. “He said he told his supervisor when she got angry and accused him of other things, too.”
If Thomassie is found guilty, he will serve a mandatory life sentence in prison.
