Police officers in the US were charged with more than 400 rapes and over 600 groping offenses during a nine-year period between 2005 and 2013, according to a new academic report.
There was an average of 45 rapes a year by police, according to research from Bowling Green State University in the US state of Ohio.
Forcible fondling was more common, with 636 instances taking place during the nine-year period, the study found.
Yet experts say those statistics are, by no means, comprehensive because data on sexual assaults by police are almost nonexistent.
“It’s just not available at all,” said Jonathan Blanks, a research associate with the Cato Institute’s Project on Criminal Justice. “You can only crowdsource this info.”
“The system is rigged to protect police officers from outside accountability,” Blanks said. “The worst cops are going to get the most protection.”
The researchers compiled their list by documenting cases of sworn nonfederal…