Colorado Rep. Leslie Herod’s New Bill Holds Police Officers Accountable For Sexual Assault
"When Herod first decided to take this issue on, Colorado law said that people could not be assaulted while they were in prison, jail, or a hospital. However, the law said nothing about people who were in custody – people who are under arrest or are stopped by an officer – and it was this loophole that put the most vulnerable Coloradans in danger. In August 2017, aWestminster cop named Curtis Arganbright assaulted a woman who struggled with alcoholism, after she had been accused of theft. According to the victim, he forced her to have intercourse while she was handcuffed. Arganbright was only convicted of two misdemeanors – abuse of power and unlawful sexual conduct – and was sentenced to 90 days in jail. As a defense, his attorney Doug Jewell claimed the woman did consent and that Arganbright merely “took an opportunity.”
