Charges filed against ex-Hurricane cop

Criminal charges have been filed against a former Hurricane police officer accused of sexually assaulting a woman.

Nathan F. Amosa, 24, was charged in St. George's 5th District Court Monday with forcible sodomy, a first-degree felony; and two counts of second-degree felony forcible sex abuse. He is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday.

Hurricane police received a complaint of officer misconduct on Friday and Amosa was placed on administrative leave. The Washington County Sheriff's Office conducted a criminal investigation and the case was forwarded to the county attorney's office.

According to a probable cause statement filed with the charges, Amosa was on-duty responding to a call when the alleged sexual assault occurred. Detectives wrote in an affidavit that under questioning, officer Amosa admitted to coercing the victim into performing a sex act on him and fondling her.

"Amosa stated that he used his authority and the threat of a citation for child neglect in order to obtain sexual favors from the victim," Washington County sheriff's detective Nolan Gray wrote. "The victim was distraught when interviewed and said that she felt she had to comply because he was in uniform and had a gun."

Amosa resigned from the Hurricane Police Department on Monday, authorities said.

"The Hurricane Police Department will forward information gathered during the investigation of this complaint to the Utah Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) board," Hurricane police spokesman Ken Perkins said in a statement.

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