Illinois Sheriff Deputy Sexually Assaults Prisoner at Rest Stop

Robert Freeman, a sheriff's deputy in Pike County, Illinois, was sentenced this week to eighteen months probation after admitting earlier this month to sexually assaulting a prisoner in his care.

Freeman, now 68, was transporting the female prisoner in 2008 when she asked him to stop at a rest area in St. Clair County so she could smoke a cigarette. Freeman apparently had other things on his mind when he pulled over, and propositioned the woman to perform oral sex on him. The prisoner obliged, stating that she feared Freeman -- armed with a department-issued handgun -- would hurt her if she did not comply.

The inmate later told on Freeman, and the Illinois State Police caught him on audio tape asking the prisoner once more for oral sex. That conversation -- secretly recorded -- occurred prior to Freeman driving the prisoner back to Pike County. On the tape Freeman allegedly asked the prisoner if she'd repeat the sex act if he pulled over at the same rest stop during the return trip.

The Belleville News-Democrat has more on the story, including why it's taken so long to prosecute Freeman after he was indicted back in 2008.