Upstate NY officer charged with sex abuse

PEEKSKILL, N.Y. (AP) — A suburban New York police officer is behind bars after being charged with repeatedly sexually abusing a woman while supposedly investigating a theft.

Peekskill Police Officer Michael Agovino was being held Monday on $50,000 bond after an arraignment Saturday on charges including sexual abuse and stalking. It wasn't immediately clear whether he has an attorney who can comment on the charges, and a possible phone number for his home rang unanswered.

According to a criminal complaint, Agovino, 33, first contacted the woman in July to say he was investigating whether she had stolen money, which she denied. Westchester County District Attorney Anthony Scarpino says there is no evidence she committed the crime.

After initially meeting the woman in a public place, Agovino told her to take him to her home so he could look for stolen money, then instructed her to strip once they were in her apartment, according to the complaint.

“Fearful of his authority, the fact that he was armed and that he might hurt her,” she removed her clothes, and he groped her breasts, the complaint said.

The officer returned to her apartment in the ensuing weeks, threatening to arrest her, and sexually abused her again, according to the complaint.

When he showed up Jan. 22 and again subjected her again to unwanted sexual contact, she secretly recorded the encounter, according to authorities.

In an interview with News 12 Westchester, the woman called Agovino's actions “very wrong.”

“Now, I do not trust police officers at all,” said the woman, who wasn't identified.

The police department put Agovino on leave, while Mayor Andre Rainey called the case “an embarrassment to our police department and our entire city.”