US: Police officer admits coercing illegal immigrants into gay sex
A Florida police officer has admitted he coerced undocumented immigrants into having sex with him.
A group of 20 immigrants alleged that 34-year-old Jonathan Bleiweiss harassed them, molested them during pat-downs, and threatened them with deportation if they refused to perform sex acts.
Bleiweiss – a former Broward Sheriff’s deputy – pleaded guilty to an array of charges on Thursday, admitting to 14 counts of armed false imprisonment, 15 counts of battery and four counts of stalking.
As part of a plea deal he did not face charges of sexual battery, and as such will not be registered as a sex offender.
Judge Michael Robinson sentenced him to five years behind bars with 10 years of probation, and ordered him to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
Bleiweiss, who had been a deputy since 2002, was first arrested in 2009 after reports circulated that he had harassed immigrants, but it has taken until now for the case to finally reach a conclusion.
Assistant state attorney Neva Smith said of the plea deal: “All the victims were consulted, the ones who were interested and available, but at this point, after six years, it was the best and the most just and fair resolution that the state could come up with.
“They didn’t want to testify, they wanted to put it behind them. I can understand that.
“They are tired. They have been held hostage by this case for years. They have been tormented and teased in their community. They don’t want their faces on camera.”
She added: “Most of those victims [who had been sexually assaulted] have since been deported.”
