Former El Paso police officer sentenced to 10 years of probation for rape

A former El Paso police officer was sentenced to a decade of probation in the sexual assault of a woman he met while responding to a domestic violence incident.

William Ollie Alexander received a 10-year suspended prison sentence Friday on one count of sexual assault. The suspended sentence means he will be placed on probation.

A jury of eight men and four women, which on Thursday convicted him of sexual assault, deliberated for more than two hours before reaching a decision. Alexander, his wife and their family hugged and cried after the sentence was read and the jury was let out.

He also will have to register as a sex offender for life.

Alexander was convicted of sexual assault in the March 10, 2018, incident in which he met a woman during a domestic violence call, gave her his phone number and hours later picked her up.

Authorities say he then took her to a dark area near Mesa Street in West El Paso and sexually assaulted her.

The El Paso Times does not identify victims of sexual assault.

Victim cried as she described impact on her life

It was an emotional day in court, as the woman cried as she testified about the impact the incident has had on her life, while Alexander began crying when his children came into the courtroom.

The woman testified that she will forever be haunted by the sexual assault and that she is no longer the woman she once was.

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“I used to be trusting,” she said when asked by prosecutors how the incident has impacted her. “I thought everyone was nice and would be helpful, but now I know it is not like that. My intimacy went away for a long time. I didn’t want any guy around me. That’s not right. I shouldn’t have to feel that way.”

She testified that the incident has left her afraid to have children.

“Can you imagine having a daughter and having this happen to her?” she asked. “It would be awful. I don’t have kids, but Mom was overprotective, and I am going to be even more overprotective. This is something I will never forget. It was the worst day of my life.”

Alexander’s father, William Ollie Alexander III, pleaded for a lenient sentence, saying the defendant was a caring father and dreamed of being a law enforcement officer.

“It was a fulfillment of a lifelong desire” William Ollie Alexander III said about his son’s law enforcement career. “He wanted to serve and protect. It has been devastating knowing he won’t be able to be have his career. It is just heartbreaking.”

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William Ollie Alexander III said he knows his son made a mistake, but he asked for his son to be sentenced to probation due to fear for his son’s safety in prison.

“I understand he made a moral mistake,” he said. “My son is a law enforcement officer. I think you, I and all the men and women of the jury know what happens to law enforcement officers in prison.”

Defense lawyers Dolph Quijano and Omar Carmona also pointed out the fear of sending a former law enforcement officer to prison in their closing arguments.

“Any sentence you give Mr. Alexander could result in a death sentence," Carmona said. “It doesn't matter how many years. He will go to the penitentiary as former police officer. He is going to be there with gang members. Yes, it is because of his actions, but remember any prison sentence is a death sentence.”

State prosecutors Heather Haywood and Mathew Englebaum asked for the jury to at least sentence Alexander to 15 years in prison.

“She (the victim) can never forget it and she can’t just move on,” Haywood said in her closing arguments. “This is a weight she should not have to carry, and it is a weight she will carry the rest of her life … She was in vulnerable situation as a human being that day, and he took from her and he is still taking from her.”

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Aaron Martinez may be reached at 915-546-6249; aamartinez@elpasotimes.com; @AMartinezEPT on Twitter.