Neil Kimball sexually assaulted a teen rape victim while she was allegedly bound and tied, Ventura County District Attorney Gregory Totten said

Sex Crimes Detective Who Raped Teen Victim While Investigating Her Case Gets 3 Years in Prison

A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department sex crimes detective was sentenced to three years in prison for raping a 15-year-old girl in 2017 while he was investigating a previous sexual assault she reported, authorities say.

In July, Neil David Kimball, 46, of Agoura, California, pleaded guilty to a lewd act with a child and unlawful sexual intercourse, Ventura County District Attorney Gregory Totten announced in a news release.

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On Thursday, Kimball was sentenced to the maximum term of three years in state prison for sexually assaulting the teen.

Kimball was also ordered to register as a sex offender, pay the victim $50,000 for her pain and suffering and have no contact with her.

Kimball met the teen when he was working as a detective in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Special Victims Bureau, the district attorney says in the release.

During his investigation, Kimball “befriended the victim,” Totten said in the release.

He later sexually assaulted her while she allegedly was bound and tied, Totten said in a previous release.

The incident took place in Kimball’s trailer in Camarillo, according to the New York Times.

He was arrested in November 2018 after the girl’s father told another investigator who took over the case about the sexual assault, the New York Times reports.

The 20-year veteran was originally charged with forcible rape. But prosecutors were unable to prove that he had used force, Patrice Koenig, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office, told the New York Times.

On July 9, he pleaded guilty to the lesser charges of committing a lewd act with a child and unlawful sexual intercourse as part of his plea deal.

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This is not the first time Kimball has been investigated for inappropriate behavior with sex assault victims, according to the Los Angeles Times.

In 2009, a woman alleged Kimball had grabbed her hand and tried to force her to touch his genitals while he was on duty, the Times reports. When authorities attempted to investigate, witnesses gave contradictory statements and the case was eventually dropped.

Despite the accusation, Kimball joined the Special Victims Bureau later that year.

In December, another California woman revealed she had reported Kimball to officials in 2014 after he allegedly had been inappropriate and flirtatious with her while investigating her sexual assault case.

“It was like trying to complain to a brick wall,” Sara Abusheikh told the Daily Beast. “It just makes you think, ‘How many other women are there that tried to complain about this guy?’”

The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department said in a statement Thursday that it “has fully cooperated with the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office prosecution of Neil Kimball. We hold all our employees to the highest ethical standard and when that standard is not met, there must be consequences.”

Kimball’s pay was suspended on March 4, 2019, the statement said.

“The Department has now obtained court documents to proceed with his immediate termination,” it said.