Ex-Cop Convicted of Rape

By Margaret Lyons in News on Dec 11, 2007 7:55PM

Former Chicago Police sergeant John Herman faces a minimum of 24 years in prison after he was convicted of rape this week. Herman had a bench trial rather than a jury trial, and Judge Joseph Claps not only found Herman guilty, he also had some additional harsh words for the rapist. "The defendant's testimony is unreasonable and nothing short of perjury," Claps said. Claps also didn't believe two officers who testified on Herman's behalf, saying that their testimony was "not believable or even remotely reasonable." Herman had testified that he and the victim, a crack addict, were "sex friends," that the sex was consensual and that she had used his baton as a sex toy on her own accord. [S-T, Trib, ABC]

In other police news, Aldermen Ed Burke and Isaac Carothers introduced legislation today that would require police involved with shootings to have their blood alcohol levels tested. Burke says he's "certain" that Daley will support the measure, and the police union is predictably less than thrilled. File this under "treated the symptoms, not the disease."