Former Jackson County deputy sheriff Steven W. Burgess gets 14 years for sexual assault of girl while on duty

Former Jackson County deputy sheriff gets 14 years for sexual assault of 15-year-old girl while on duty

By TONY RIZZO
The Kansas City Star
Posted on Fri, Apr. 09, 2010 11:18 PM

A former Jackson County deputy sheriff was sentenced Friday to 14 years in federal prison for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl while he was on duty.

Steven W. Burgess, 36, pleaded guilty in November in U.S. District Court in Kansas City to violating the girl’s civil rights.

Federal authorities filed the civil rights charge after a Jackson County judge placed Burgess on probation. Burgess had pleaded guilty in Jackson County Circuit Court to charges of statutory sodomy and sexual assault for his actions during the July 2007 incident.

Prosecutors said Friday that they wanted to send a “strong message” that civil rights violations would not be tolerated.

“When a uniformed law enforcement officer violates the civil rights of a vulnerable victim, especially in such a repugnant manner, he must be held to the highest standard of justice,” said U.S. Attorney Beth Phillips.

Burgess, who resigned after the allegations surfaced, was on duty when he encountered the girl among a group of young people in Hayes Park in Sibley. It was about 2 a.m., and Burgess told the girl’s friends to leave but ordered her to stay.

He handcuffed her and fondled her inappropriately during a pat-down search. Burgess then forced her to perform oral sex and warned her that if she told anyone what happened, he would reveal that she had been in the park drinking.

The girl immediately told family members and was taken to a hospital for examination. Later DNA testing linked him to the assault.

http://www.kansascity.com/2010/04/09/1868378/former-jackson-county-deputy-sheriff.html

A judge only placed him on probation for kidnapping and sodomy of a 15 year old girl? It's a shame it took a civil rights charge to put this man behind bars, and a federal prison at that. Fourteen years is not long enough.