FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, July 9, 2015
Former Con Edison Employee Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Impersonating a Police Officer and Sexually Attacking Woman
Defendant Forced Victim to Engage in Sex Act by Threatening Her
With “Arrest” if She Did Not Comply
Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson today announced that a 35-year-old former Con Edison employee was sentenced to 10 years in prison following his conviction last month for forcing a woman to engage in sexual activity in 2012 by impersonating a police officer and threatening her with an arrest if she did not comply.
District Attorney Thompson said, “This defendant’s actions are particularly troubling because he pretended to be a police officer to take advantage of the victim and make her engage in unwanted sexual activity. Today’s sentence ensures that he’s off the streets and in prison, where he belongs.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Warren Taylor, 35, of Bushkill, PA. He was sentenced today by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Alan D. Marrus to 10 years in prison followed by 10 years of post-release supervision and sex offender registration. The defendant was convicted of first-degree criminal sexual act and first-degree criminal impersonation following a jury trial.
The District Attorney said that, according to trial testimony, the defendant approached the victim—who worked as a prostitute— on Vermont Street in East New York, Brooklyn on January 5, 2012. The victim entered the defendant’s car where the defendant falsely stated that he was a police officer and drove her to a nearby location. The defendant then ordered the victim out the car where he handcuffed and frisked her. Once back in the car, the defendant forced the victim to engage in a sex act by telling her she would be arrested if she did not. The defendant used his Con Edison-issued handheld radio, according to court documents, to trick his victim into believing he was a cop.
District Attorney Thompson said that, according to trial testimony, following the attack, the defendant entered his phone number into the victim’s cell phone and later sent her numerous text messages. Upon his arrest, investigators recovered handcuff keys and a Con Edison issued radio. Further analysis of the defendant’s cell phone records placed him in the area at the time of the incident.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney David Weiss of the District Attorney’s Human Trafficking Unit, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Laura Neubauer, Unit Chief, and the overall supervision of Assistant District Attorney Miss Gregory, Chief of the District Attorney’s Special Victims Bureau.
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