http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-herman11dec11,0,1829259.story?coll=chi_tab01_layoutJudge criticizes court testimony by 2 detectives
By Kayce T. Ataiyero | Tribune staff reporter
December 11, 2007
A Chicago police sergeant was convicted Monday of raping a woman while on duty after a judge found his testimony that the sex was consensual was "nothing short of perjury."
Cook County Circuit Judge Joseph Claps also said he did not believe the testimony of Calumet Area Detectives Constance Besteda and Ernest Bell, who investigated the woman's allegations against Sgt. John Herman. snip
Following a bench trial last week, the judge on Monday convicted Herman, a 20-year veteran assigned to the Gresham Police District, of aggravated criminal sexual assault, aggravated kidnapping and official misconduct for the 2004 rape in the woman's South Side apartment. He ordered Herman taken into immediate custody. snip
Herman faces a minimum sentence of 24 years in prison, prosecutors said. He is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 3.
"It made absolutely no sense: Their eyes met across the 6th {Gresham} District parking lot," Chamberlain said. "It doesn't matter if you are addicted to crack. You don't get to be raped by a Chicago police officer."