The first гɑρᴇ took place after Baltimore County police officer Anthony Michael Westerman began buying rounds of shots for his friends at a bar in Maryland, including for a 22-year-old woman he had just met who had arrived with a female friend of his from high school.
It was 2017 and Westerman was living the good life. He was 23 years old and had already been a cop for four years. And his behavior indicates he believed he could get away with anything.
And considering a Maryland judge last week sentenced the cop to four years of home detention while appealing his гɑρᴇ conviction, he was probably right.
The 22-year-old woman ended up getting very drunk and leaving the bar to pass out in her car. At some point, her friend walked out of the bar and woke her up. The plan was for the two of them to take an Uber back home and retrieve her car the following day.
But Westerman suggested they all share an Uber. He told the two women that he and a male friend would ensure the Uber drops them off first before dropping the two men off at his home.
However, the two women ended up passing out on the ride home and when they awoke, they were at Westerman’s house, according to WMAR-TV in Baltimore which reviewed the court documents.
They protested at first but Westerman convinced them to go inside and watch a movie but he ended up putting on a ρᴏгп. His female friend from high school walked to his bedroom with his male friend to lie on his bed, leaving the cop alone with the 22-year-old woman he had just met.
But she was passed out on the couch and when she awoke, her pants were off and Westerman was on top of her, trying to ρᴇпᴇтгɑтᴇ her.
She tried pushing him off but he held her down, telling her he knows she liked it. She told investigators he held her down while kissing her face and neck during the ѕᴇх ɑᴄт.
The woman told her friend what had happened and they both left the home but never reported it because they figured he would remain protected as a cop.
It was only when Westerman was accused of гɑρɪпɡ another woman at his home more than a year later that she came forward.
The Second Victim
The second victim was a 20-year-old woman who told police she considered him to be a brother. She was visiting Westerman’s live-in girlfriend who was her relative.
It was June 2019 and the three of them spent the evening drinking. When Westerman and his girlfriend retired to their bedroom, the victim retired to a guest bedroom.
She was laying on the bed about to fall asleep when Westerman walked into the bedroom and began kissing her and thrusting his hand into her ᴜпԀᴇгρɑптѕ, WMAR-TV reported. She tried to push him off but he ripped off her clothes and гɑρᴇԀ her.
She was also hesitant to report the incident because he was a cop.
The Third Victim
A week later, Westerman was accused of ѕᴇхᴜɑʟʟʏ ɑѕѕɑᴜʟтɪпɡ a third woman who was also related to his live-in girlfriend.
According to WMAR-TV, she met up with Westerman and her relative at the cop’s home and they began drinking, celebrating his girlfriend’s birthday. They then went to a bar to continue drinking.
At the bar, Westerman’s girlfriend and another friend left the table to go to the bathroom, leaving the cop alone with the victim. He took the victim to a secluded area of the bar and she went along, thinking he was going to reveal plans to propose to his girlfriend.
But instead he attempted to kiss her. She pushed him off and they returned to the table but he did it again later that day and that time, she cussed him out and told the others.
At some point, one of the victims reported the ᴄгɪᴍᴇѕ to police who arrested him on гɑρᴇ charges in December 2019, according to the Baltimore Sun.
Prosecutors described Westerman as a “ρгᴇԀɑтᴏг” who would get his victims drunk before ѕᴇхᴜɑʟʟʏ ɑѕѕɑᴜʟтɪпɡ them, according to WBAL-TV.
The Judge
Last week, Baltimore County Judge Keith Truffer dismissed charges from the third incident but convicted him of гɑρᴇ for the first two incidents, sentencing him to 15 years in prison.
However, the judge suspended all but four years of the sentence, allowing him to serve that time at home while appealing the conviction. Truffer’s arrived at his decision after concluding there is “not evidence of any psychological injury to the victim.”
Truffer, who became a judge in 2016, has a long list of professional credentials to his name, according to his bio, but nothing suggests that he has any expertise in psychology, especially when it comes to гɑρᴇ victims.
“I’m disappointed in the outcome,” State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger told the Baltimore Sun.
“I do not believe when you’re convicted of second-degree гɑρᴇ that home detention is appropriate and I certainly don’t believe only four years on this kind of ᴄгɪᴍᴇ is appropriate.”
Although Westerman is still a cop, he has been suspended without pay since December 2019.
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