NEW BRUNSWICK — A former Plainfield police sergeant has been convicted of fabricating criminal charges against a woman and threatening her with jail to force her into a sexual act, acting Union County Prosecutor Grace Park said today.

A Superior Court jury in New Brunswick on Wednesday found Samuel Woody, 43, guilty of second-degree official misconduct and fourth-degree criminal sexual assault, Park said.

The case was transferred to New Brunswick because one witness, a municipal court judge, later became a Superior Court judge in Union County, creating a conflict.

Authorities said that on July 24, 2011, Woody, who had 12 years on the police force, arrested a then 27-year-old Plainfield woman on false charges of theft and burglary.

After the woman was released on a summons to appear in court, Woody told her to meet him in a lot on Madison Avenue in Plainfield, said Union County Assistant Prosecutor James Tansey.

At the lot, Woody coerced the woman into removing parts of her clothing and watching him perform a sex act on himself while he was in uniform. He threatetold the woman with a five-year prison sentence if she didn't comply, Tansey said.

Theft and burglary charges against the woman were later dismissed after a court hearing determined there was no probable cause. Tansey said the police later received a report of Woody's sexual assault, which sparked a joint investigation involving Plainfield police internal affairs officers and the county prosecutor's special investigations unit.

Woody was arrested in January 2012 and suspended without pay, authorities said.

Park called the former officer's conduct, "not only criminal but brazenly flagrant in the manner in which it violated the public's trust."

Woody will be sentenced Feb. 3, 2014 and faces up to 10 years in prison, Park said.

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