ST. LOUIS (CN) - A former Velda City auxiliary reserve police officer, who allegedly has a fetish for photographing female genitalia as a trophy, pleaded guilty to federal charges that he sexually assaulted a woman during a traffic stop.
Joe Ernest Phillips, 38, admitted he was in a marked police car in July 2006 when he pulled a car over and sent the women's boyfriend away on foot. Prosecutors say Phillips searched the car, then asked the women to follow him to a remote, darker spot where he forcibly fondled her and took pictures of her genitals on his cell phone. Prosecutors said Phillips' had a fetish of photographing female genitalia.
Phillips also admitted lying repeatedly to FBI agents and misleading them by giving them a different cell phone than the one he had that night.
Phillips pleaded guilty to a civil rights violation and to obstructing justice for hiding the cell phone. He faces up to 20 years in prison at his April 30 sentencing. Velda City is 10 miles northwest of St. Louis.
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