Tuscaloosa County Detention Deputy Accused Of Sexually Assaulting Woman After Meeting At Jail

TUSCALOOSA, AL — A Tuscaloosa County detention deputy has been charged with rape and other sex crimes after investigators say he sexually assaulted a woman who came to the county jail seeking to bond her boyfriend out.

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Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit Captain Marty Sellers told local media Thursday morning that Thomas Dorsey, 34, of Tuscaloosa, was arrested Wednesday on charges of first-degree rape, first-degree sodomy and first-degree sexual abuse.

He said Dorsey had worked for Tuscaloosa County as a detention deputy for about two months at the time of the alleged assault.

The investigation began Sept. 21 after the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's Office was notified of a possible sexual assault.

Sellers said the victim's father contacted Tuscaloosa County Jail administrators because Dorsey was a detention deputy.

Investigators then said the woman's ex-boyfriend had been arrested and she went to the jail in an attempt to bond him out.

Dorsey allegedly approached the woman in the jail parking area and began talking with her. Investigators said Dorsey told her to meet him away from the jail and that he could help her bond her boyfriend out.

Sellers said the woman agreed and met Dorsey at a shopping center in the 2600 block of East McFarland Boulevard in Tuscaloosa.

Investigators said the woman got into a vehicle with Dorsey, where she reported she was sexually assaulted.

Sexual assault investigators with the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit took over the case and gathered evidence that Sellers said supported the woman's account.

Investigators presented the evidence to a magistrate, who issued three warrants for Dorsey's arrest.

Dorsey was booked into the Tuscaloosa County Jail Wednesday and ordered to be held without bond under Aniah's Law.

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