Former Hamilton County Deputy Sheriff Willie Greer, 33, was indicted yesterday by a federal grand jury in Chattanooga, Tennessee, for sexually assaulting a woman while he was on duty on Jan. 5, 2014, the Justice Department announced.

Greer was charged with a civil rights violation for sexually assaulting the victim, which violated her constitutional due process rights to bodily integrity, kidnapping, carrying a firearm during and in relation to the sexual assault and possessing a firearm in further of the crime.

If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and a fine of not more than $250,000. An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

This case was investigated by the FBI and the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney James Brooks of the Eastern District of Tennessee and Civil Rights Division Trial Attorney Saeed Mody.