Brian Wilson

brwilson@tennessean.com

A decommissioned Metro police officer has been accused of raping his former long-term girlfriend three times in the past three years.

Lt. Curtis Watkins was indicted on three counts of rape by a Davidson County grand jury Friday morning, according to a release from the Metro Nashville Police Department.

The suspect was under police investigation after his girlfriend contacted authorities in January with “serious concerns about him,” the release said. She later told detectives that Watkins had nonconsensual sex with her once in 2012 and twice in 2013.

Watkins, 36, had been assigned to the Investigations Unit in the Madison precinct in a supervisory role before the investigation. He was hired by Metro 15 years ago as an officer.

Watkins was decommissioned from his post Jan. 27, the day after the woman first contacted authorities.

Police said an internal investigation of him was still in progress. When it concludes, he is expected to be charged with violation of police rules and regulations and face a disciplinary hearing, which could result in his firing.

“Members of this police department deeply value the trust and confidence placed in us by Nashville’s citizens,” Chief Steve Anderson said in a prepared statement. “Our commitment to the community absolutely required thorough criminal and administrative investigations of this employee while he was in a restricted assignment with no police authority. As reflected by the indictment and the administrative investigation, the MNPD took this matter very seriously.”

Watkins had no prior disciplinary infractions with Metro police. He was booked into Metro Jail on Friday afternoon on $100,000 bond.

Reach Brian Wilson at 615-726-5970 or on Twitter @brianwilson17.