Former Kokomo Police Department Officer Sentenced to 40 Years in Prison for Sexually Assaulting Minor, Lying to Investigators, and Destruction of Records

Sinmi Asomuyide, a former Kokomo, Indiana, police officer, was sentenced on Wednesday to 40 years in prison and three years supervised release for charges related to his on-duty sexual assault of a 14-year-old, and related obstruction. Asomuyide was previously convicted by a federal jury after a five-day trial in the Southern District of Indiana.

"The Department of Justice takes civil rights abuses seriously, including those committed by the small minority of police officers that betray public trust," said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. "This defendant will be held accountable for the kidnapping and sexual abuse of a child. We hope the victim will be able to recover and prosper despite this horrific episode."

"This defendant exploited the badge in one of the worst ways imaginable," said U.S. Attorney Tom Wheeler for the Southern District of Indiana. "What makes these crimes particularly disturbing is that he used the very tools, training, and authority entrusted to him as a police officer not only to assault a vulnerable child, but to try to conceal it. The evidence told a different story, and today's sentence sends a clear message that no one can use the authority of the badge as a shield from accountability."

"The very people entrusted with protecting children must never become the ones who victimize them. This defendant preyed on a 14-year-old girl and then attempted to cover up his crimes," said Special Agent in Charge Timothy J. O'Malley of the FBI Indianapolis Field Office. "That kind of calculated abuse is unconscionable. The FBI remains committed to protecting children and relentlessly pursuing those who prey on them."

In particular, jurors found Sinmi Asomuyide, 33, guilty of willfully depriving the victim, who was then 14 years old, of her constitutional rights by sexually assaulting her. The jury found that the defendant's conduct included kidnapping and abusive sexual contact of a child under the age of 16.

Jurors also found Asomuyide guilty of lying to the Indiana State Police in an attempt to cover up the assault by denying having sexual contact with the victim, and lying about the presence of other corroborating evidence. Additionally, jurors found Asomuyide guilty of deleting a messaging application he had been using to communicate with the minor victim prior to the sexual assault in attempt to cover up the assault.

The case was investigated by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Blackett for the Southern District of Indiana, Civil Rights Division Trial Attorney Anita Channapati, and former Senior Sex Crimes Counsel Tara Allison prosecuted the case.