Former Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Eric Roberts is one of several Oklahoma law enforcement officers charged in separate cases with rape, sexual battery, and other sex crimes. Accused of raping a woman after a traffic stop in July, Roberts was formally charged last month with multiple felony and misdemeanor crimes related to that incident and two other alleged sexual assaults.
On Tuesday, Roberts, 42, pleaded not guilty in Creek County District Court to the ten felony and four misdemeanor charges against him, which include sexual battery, second degree rape, and bribery. The bribery charges come as a result of the Trooper allegedly telling women that he would not arrest them in exchange for sex or sexual contact.
The case against Roberts came after a July traffic stop in which he allegedly stopped a woman without cause, and upon claiming to detect the scent of marijuana in her car, made her get in his patrol vehicle and send her friend to drive the car to another location, where he was to bring the woman later.
The woman says that Roberts drove her to a secluded location and raped her before bringing her back to her friend. She notified the OHP of the incident, and Roberts was suspended under "allegations of misconduct."
The accusations were not made public until the woman filed a lawsuit against Roberts and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.
At first, the woman's case looked shaky--despite her attorney's claim that she was a law-abiding citizen, it turned out that she not only had a criminal past, but also had an outstanding warrant. Furthermore, one of the past charges against her was for filing a false police report in making a false rape claim against an ex-boyfriend.
However, after the lawsuit was made public, another woman came forward accusing Roberts of similar activity and was added as a plaintiff to the suit.
Investigators reviewing Roberts's traffic stops say there are at least six incidents in which he turned off his dash cam. Two of those cases are mentioned in the lawsuit. In a third incident, investigators say that although no sexual contact occurred, the trooper's actions were "inappropriate." They say that the remaining three cases included behavior that was "questionable," but not illegal.
In addition to former OHP Trooper Roberts, two other former Oklahoma law officers are charged with on-duty sexual assaults.
Former Oklahoma City police officer Daniel Holtzclaw has been bound over for trial on 35 felony sex crime counts for allegedly raping and sexually assaulting women during his patrol in the department's Springlake division.
Former Tulsa County Sheriff's deputy Gerald Nuckolls is accused of sexual battery against two women while purportedly investigating a hang-up 9-1-1 call. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing in January.
