Former Alabama deputy gets 12 years for assaulting woman stopped for broken tag light

SELMA, Ala. (AP) — A former deputy sheriff in Alabama has been sentenced to more than 12 years in prison for sexually assaulting a woman while he was on duty in Selma, federal prosecutors said.

The U.S. Department of Justice wrote in a plea agreement that Joshua Davidson, 33, stopped the woman’s vehicle in Dallas County in 2020 for a broken tag light and told her he could see marijuana residue on her. He handcuffed her and drove her to a desolate location where he sexually assaulted her, the department said.

The victim was in fear that Davidson would shoot her, the Justice Department said.

Davidson pleaded guilty to one count of deprivation of rights under color of law, according to court records. District Judge Kristi K. DuBose on Friday sentenced him to federal prison, specifying that it should be at an institution where mental health treatment is available.

“Today’s sentence sends a clear message that officers who abuse their positions of power to sexually assault women in their custody will face significant prison time for their unlawful actions,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a news release.

Davidson’s attorney, Gordon G. Armstrong III, did not immediately return an emailed request Saturday for comment.