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SALT LAKE CITY -- A former West Jordan police officer will serve a year in jail for sexually assaulting a woman in his custody.
A judge sentenced 35-year-old Nelson Tuatagaloa Thursday morning to 12 months in the Salt Lake County Jail and 36 months probation.
He pleaded guilty in February to custodial sexual relations for having sex with a suicidal woman he was taking to the hospital for a mental evaluation in September 2008.
Prosecutor Michaela Andruzzi says the public's trust has already been violated.
"The real tragedy in a case like this is that most law enforcement officers are good, strong people," Andruzzi said.
Tears welling in his eyes, Tuatagaloa apologized to his victim and his fellow officers. Defense attorney Rebecca Hyde Skordas says her client is ready to accept his fate.
In exchange for the plea, prosecutors dropped a forcible sexual abuse charge.
Tuatagaloa resigned from the West Jordan Police Department in 2009 and lost his law enforcement certification for life.
