UPDATE: South Bend officer accused of sexual assault on duty

October 24, 2011|By MARY KATE MALONE | Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND — A South Bend police officer who has been on the force for 19 months is accused of fondling two different women on separate occasions while on duty.

Jeffery Chester, 26, is facing two counts of felony official misconduct and two counts of misdemeanor battery.

Click here to read the court documents.

Chester was arrested this morning and booked into the St. Joseph County Jail, according to St. Joseph County police spokesman Sgt. Matt Blank. His bond was set at $1,000. Chester's wife bonded him out of jail a short time later, Blank said.

Chester is accused of fondling a woman’s buttocks with his hand during a pat-down search at Potawatomi Park in the early morning hours of Sept. 1. The woman reported that he also flipped up her dress, exposing her bare skin and breasts, according to court documents. Those documents also say Chester lied to the woman and her male friend, claiming he was investigating a rape that occurred in the area when in fact, there was no rape reported.

Around 11:30 p.m. on Sept. 30, Chester allegedly fondled a different woman whom he pulled over at the corner of Wayne Street and South St. Louis Street for not having a light for her license plate, according to court documents.

He allegedly ordered her to drive to a nearby parking lot to discuss the matter further, according to court documents.

The woman believed she was going to be arrested in the parking lot and got out of her car. Chester allegedly told her to open her jacket and shined a flashlight down her shirt.

He then allegedly asked her to lift up her shirt, and then touched her breast and tried to kiss her, according to court documents.

When police investigated the complaints, they found that the GPS tracking records on Chester’s police car matched the time and places where the incidents allegedly occurred.

"The accusation wasn't something that was just a violation of our duty manual," explained South Bend Police Capt. Phil Trent. These are criminal accusations and very serious criminal accusations. So we took actions immediately and handed this over to an outside agency for investigation."

Trent also said Chester was immediately put on administrative leave with pay when the investigation began, per department protocol. Police Chief Daryl Boykins asked the city's Board of Public Safety to hold a special meeting Tuesday to place Chester on leave without pay.