Cop drove girl to hospital for sex assault exam, then molested her himself, NOPD alleges

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New Orleans police officer Rodney Vicknair was the first cop to arrive on the scene when a 15-year-old girl reported being sexually assaulted, and he drove the teen and her mother to the hospital for a physical examination, investigators recently wrote in court documents.

In later calls and meetings, Vicknair began showering the girl with compliments about her body, asked her for her underwear and fondled her on her chest and in between her legs before his arrest at his home outside of Slidell last week, his own agency alleged. 

A sworn statement filed in court in support of the New Orleans Police Department’s decision to jail Vicknair, 53, contains a detailed summary of the case at this point against the 13-year veteran of the force.

According to court records, Vicknair was the first responding officer when a 15-year-old reported a sexual assault, an incident that appeared to have occurred within the past year.

After driving the girl and her mother to Children’s Hospital for an examination colloquially known as a rape kit, he stayed in touch with the girl. Vicknair began communicating with her on the telephone and social media, police alleged.

Citing the girl’s recollections, police assert in court filings that Vicknair started giving the teen hugs and grabbing her buttocks. He allegedly received pictures of the girl clad in a bikini and a bodysuit on the social media app Snapchat. He said the images were “hot” and aroused him, and he allegedly began asking the girl to have sex.

The girl recalled that Vicknair came to her home in New Orleans on Sept. 23, summoned her to his truck and reached under her shirt, police alleged. She said that after she climbed into the truck, he allegedly asked her for her underwear and fondled her between her legs, according to police.

The girl reported Vicknair during a forensic interview at Children’s Hospital on Friday. A sergeant with the NOPD’s Public Integrity Bureau obtained a warrant to book Vicknair that night, and deputies in St. Tammany soon arrested him.

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