A West Jordan police officer has been arrested and charged with sexually assaulting a suicidal woman in his patrol car.

Nelson Poni-Eletise Tuatagaloa, 34, is being held in the Davis County Jail. He was booked Wednesday and charged late Friday with two counts of forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony.

Prosecutors from the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office say the assault occurred Monday while Tuatagaloa was on duty and in uniform. The officer responded to a call involving a suicidal woman "who was sitting in a parked car in a public place," according to charges filed in 3rd District Court. Tuatagaloa has been on the force for about a year according to West Jordan Police Sgt. Greg Butler.

Tuatagaloa and other officers responded to the scene and he handcuffed the woman and put her in his patrol car. He then decided to take her to Jordan Valley Hospital, 3580 W. 9000 South, for a medical evaluation because she was suicidal and had been drinking, the charges state.

The officer put the woman in the front of his patrol car. At some point, "the defendant uncuffed her and drove to a dark portion of the hospital parking lot instead of to the emergency room," according to the probable cause statement. He then kissed the woman and sexually assaulted her without her consent, prosecutors say.

The West Jordan Police Department is doing an internal investigation and the district attorney's office is conducting a criminal investigation into the alleged misconduct. Tuatagaloa he has been put on administrative leave without pay, Butler said.

Tuatagaloa is being held in lieu of $100,000 bond. If convicted, forcible sexual abuse carries a possible sentence of one to 15 years in prison.

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