Sanger officer who ‘repeatedly preyed on women’ while on duty convicted of 4 sexual assaults
A Sanger police officer has been found guilty of sexually assaulting four women while he was on duty, prosecutors said Thursday.
A federal jury found J. DeShawn Torrence, 42, guilty of eight counts of deprivation of constitutional rights under color of law for sexually assaulting four women while working for the Sanger Police Department, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
“Law enforcement officers are entrusted with great power to protect the public and keep them safe from harm,” Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith said in a news release. “This officer’s crimes were an egregious breach of that trust and an appalling abuse of power, as he repeatedly preyed on the women in his community and violated their civil rights.”
Torrence’s attorney was not immediately available for comment.
The counts also included kidnapping, aggravated sexual abuse and attempted aggravated sexual abuse.
At trial, the jury heard evidence of four separate incidents of sexual assault, prosecutors said.
Torrence kidnapped a 21-year-old woman who was walking to a store to buy groceries, drove here outside of town and sexually assaulted her on a dead end road, prosecutors said.
He also forcibly raped a 67-year-old woman during a DUI investigation after he followed her into her home, prosecutors said.
Torrence was wearing a police uniform when he arrived to the home of the third victim about midnight, pinning her against a counter and sexually assaulting her, prosecutors said.
A fourth woman became a victim after Torrence showed up to her home multiple times under the guise he was doing a domestic violence investigation, prosecutors said. He forced her to expose herself and sexually assaulted her.
“The FBI Sacramento Field Office is grateful to the brave victims who came forward and trusted us to investigate the allegations of sexual abuse at the hands of a police officer,” Special Agent in Charge Sid Patel said in a statement.
Torrence is set to be sentenced on May 7, facing a maximum penalty of life in prison and a $250,000 fine for five of the counts. The rest carry a one-year prison sentence and fines up to $100,000.
Originally from Corcoran, Torrence was arrested in 2019 after about three years working in Sanger.
This story was originally published January 30, 2025 at 11:48 AM.
