A former Long Island, New York police officer pleaded guilty to violating the civil rights of four women after forcing them to strip or undress when he pulled them over for traffic violations.
Former Suffolk County highway patrol officer Frank Wright has been accused of mistreating and assaulting more than a dozen women while on patrol on Long Island between 1998 and 2000. After pleading guilty to two felony and two misdemeanor charges he may be sentenced to 51 to 63 months in prison, according to the New York Times.
According to statements from the women, the 36-year-old officer forced one woman to strip to her underpants and high heels and walk four blocks after telling her that she had failed a sobriety test. In another case, he accused a 19-year-old girl of driving while intoxicated and as punishment he made her strip and stand outside in the cold.
In yet another case, Wright handcuffed a woman, drove her to a remote area and forced her to show her breasts in order to be released. Another woman said that he “exposed her genitals to his view” and touched her inner thigh, according to the Times. On several occasions, Wright also had given sobriety tests to women without taking written notes as required by the law and had handcuffed them and driven to remote place to check their purses, according to Assistant US Attorney Sanford M. Cohen.
