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Warrants: Ex-SC deputy sexually assaulted woman while on duty

By The Associated Press
Feb 19, 2021

GREENVILLE, S.C. — A former police officer was arrested Friday after investigators said he forced a woman into her South Carolina home and sexually assaulted her while he was on duty.

Greenville County Deputy Christopher Abercrombie was fired the day after the Oct. 29 attack while state agents investigated, the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

Abercrombie was in uniform and armed with a gun when he forced the woman to take off her pants and held her against a table before performing a sexual act, the State Law Enforcement Division agents said in an arrest warrant.

“It was immediately made clear that Mr. Abercrombie broke the oath he swore to uphold and under no circumstances will behavior of utter disgrace be tolerated in my office."

- Sheriff Hobart Lewis

Abercrombie, 34, is charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct, kidnapping, burglary and other charges. He faces up to life in prison if convicted. He remained in the Greenville County Jail Friday. Court and jail records didn’t indicate whether he had a lawyer who could comment.

Sheriff Hobart Lewis said internal investigators began looking into Abercrombie as soon as they heard the accusation, and he was fired the next day.

At The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, we focus primarily on Georgia news, but we also like to provide readers with regional coverage of the Southeast. We cover stories that impact our region, especially in Alabama, Florida, Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana, South Carolina, North Carolina and Mississippi.

“It was immediately made clear that Mr. Abercrombie broke the oath he swore to uphold and under no circumstances will behavior of utter disgrace be tolerated in my office,” Lewis said in a statement.

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