A federal judge sentenced a former Louisiana cop to 14 years in prison for molesting a 15-year-old girl in 2020 as he investigated her sexual assault.
NOLA.com reported that New Orleans police officer Rodney Vicknair, 55, was offered a seven-year plea deal that U.S. District Judge Lance Africk tossed for being “unjustifiably lenient.” For months after driving the victim to get a rape kit, Vicknair sent her sexually-explicit messages in an attempt to groom her.
Following the months of grooming, Vicknair drove to the victim’s house, locked her in his police car, and groped her genitals under her clothes. Vicknair molested the girl on other instances — with those assaults entailing him hitting her with a police baton, commenting about how easily he could break someone’s neck, and joking about killing the victim’s loved ones.
The girl was 14 when she reported being sexually assaulted by another man and underwent a forensic exam, leading her to meet Vicknair, who took her to a children’s hospital.
In addition to the 14-year prison sentence, Vicknair was ordered to pay restitution to the victim. An amount will be determined at a hearing scheduled for May 3.
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[Featured image: Rodney Vicknair/St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office]
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