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TOWSON, Md. (AP) — A Maryland police officer charged with sexually assaulting at least three women was denied bail.
A judge made the decision Monday after prosecutors argued that Baltimore County Officer Anthony Michael Westerman was a risk to public safety, news outlets reported. He was being held at the Baltimore County Detention Center.
Westerman, 25, a police officer with the department since 2013, was charged Saturday with multiple counts of second degree rape and second degree assault. He was suspended without pay, said Police Chief Melissa Hyatt.
It's unclear whether he had an attorney who could comment on his behalf.
Court documents outline a two-year period during which Westerman was accused of predatory tactics, including promising to get an intoxicated woman home safely but instead taking her to his home and, in another situation, taking a woman away from a party to a secluded area and forcibly kissing her.
A 20-year-old woman who said she had thought of Westerman like a brother told police he woke her up while she was sleeping in his guest bedroom in June and forced her to have sex with him, news outlets reported, citing court documents.
The woman said she didn't immediately report the assault because Westerman was a police officer and she feared repercussions, according to the documents.
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