Ark. Officer Held After Sex Allegation

Dec. 02--Sheriff's deputies arrested the lone Hartford police officer Thursday afternoon after he allegedly asked for oral sex in exchange for not taking a woman to the hospital for a mental evaluation.

Jonathan Keith Brassfield, 25, of Hartford turned himself in to the Sebastian County Sheriff's Office on suspicion of abuse of public trust, a class D felony, according to an affidavit for his arrest. He was released from the Sebastian County Detention Center on Tuesday on $2,500 bond.

Near the end of October, Brassfield responded to a call regarding a disturbance in the 500 block of Pine Street in Hartford, according to the affidavit. Because the woman at the residence had threatened to hurt herself and others, the woman's father and Brassfield agreed that she should be taken to the emergency room for an evaluation, according to the affidavit.

The pair never went inside Sparks Regional Medical Center, but talked in the parking lot for about two hours, according to the affidavit. He told the woman he did her a favor by not taking her inside the hospital and she "could return the favor later," according to the affidavit.

They began the drive back to Hartford "where the conversation became sexually charged," and Brassfield turned into a driveway off Slaytonville Road, according to the affidavit. He asked her to expose her breasts, and then asked her "to return the favor by performing oral sex, which she did," according to the affidavit.

"Police officers are hired in a trust capacity, and he breached that trust," said Maj. Kevin Nickson with the Sebastian County Sheriff's Office. "... In her statement she said she had a fear because he was a police officer."

Brassfield told deputies during their investigation that he didn't take the woman inside the hospital because she didn't want to go, according to the affidavit. He said he was in contact with the woman's father, and he agreed with his decision, according to the affidavit. However, he said her father did not want her to return home, and he filed a petition for involuntary commitment on Nov. 4, alleging the woman suffered from mental disease, according to the affidavit.

He denied receiving oral sex from the woman, but could not explain discrepancies in his radio log. According to his logs, the drive to the hospital from Hartford took about 37 minutes; he reported when he left Hartford and arrived at the hospital, according to the affidavit.

However, his radio log information showed he left the hospital and returned the woman to Hartford, a 29-mile trip, within 15 minutes, according to the affidavit. There were also discrepancies in his mileage log, Nickson said.

Brassfield is still employed with the city of Hartford, but he is on paid administrative leave, according to Mike Hamby, the city's attorney.

This case is still under investigation, Nickson said.

Copyright 2011 - Times Record, Fort Smith, Ark.