COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Latest on the arrest of a former South Carolina deputy on charges he forced a woman into a sex act (all times local):
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2 p.m.
An attorney for a woman who says she was assaulted by a South Carolina sheriff's deputy says his client can rest a little easier now that her alleged accuser is facing justice.
Justin Bamberg told reporters during a news conference Wednesday that his client feared no one would believe that she had been assaulted by a law officer.
Bamberg spoke just before a bond hearing for 35-year-old Dereck Johnson. Johnson was fired from the Orangeburg County Sheriff's Office last month, a day after allegedly forcing a woman to perform oral sex on him. The woman said Johnson threatened to arrest her boyfriend if she didn't comply.
Johnson was arrested Wednesday and faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of felony misconduct in office, the State Law Enforcement Division confirmed in documents.
It wasn't immediately known if Johnson had an attorney.
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12 p.m.
A former South Carolina deputy has been charged with forcing a woman to perform a sex act after he threatened to arrest her boyfriend.
A spokesman for attorney Justin Bamberg says Dereck Johnson was charged Wednesday with felony misconduct in office.
Orangeburg County Sheriff Leroy Ravenell quickly fired Johnson last month after the allegation surfaced. Johnson was one of two officers who responded to a domestic violence call, and a woman at the home accused Johnson of forcing her to perform oral sex on him. She says he threatened to arrest her boyfriend if she didn't comply.
Bamberg represents the woman. He says one deputy remained outside with her boyfriend while the assault happened.
Johnson was expected to have a bond hearing Wednesday. It wasn't known if he had an attorney.
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Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP . Read more of her work at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/meg-kinnard/
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