A 25-year-old woman testified Monday that a Chicago police officer sexually abused her while she was handcuffed to a wall at a North Side police station.
The woman, who the Tribune is not naming because she is allegedly a victim of sexual assault, took the stand at the Leighton Criminal Court Building and said Officer Stephan Shaw implied he could help her get out of trouble if she allowed him to touch her.
Shaw, 33, who joined the Police Department in 2022, is charged with multiple felony counts including aggravated criminal sexual abuse, custodial sexual misconduct and official misconduct. Cook County Judge Adrienne Davis is presiding over the bench trial that began last month.
Then 22, the woman accused Shaw of sticking his hands down her shorts and touching her inappropriately after she was arrested for shoplifting from a Michigan Avenue department store in May 2023. She also told authorities that she was forced to touch him during the booking process at the (Near North) 18th District police station, according to court documents.
Shaw’s attorney has argued that there is no physical or corroborating evidence that support the woman’s allegations.
Shaw was on duty in full uniform, according to court documents.
“He said when he first saw me he didn’t want to lock me up because he thought I had a nice a––,” the woman testified.
Shaw groped her, she said, and asked if she wanted to go out for pizza. He positioned himself so it appeared like he was adjusting her handcuffs, she said.
He also forced her to touch him, she said.
She testified that she did not want him to touch her, nor did she want to touch him.
“I just wanted to go home,” she said.
After she was released, the woman testified, she called her mother and told her what happened.
During cross examination, Shaw’s attorney Tim Grace sought to show inconsistencies in the woman’s testimony in comparison to surveillance footage inside the station and her videotaped interview with the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.
“Did you ever yell out for him to stop touching you?” Grace asked.
“No I did not yell out,” she replied.
The woman has filed a federal lawsuit against Shaw and the city of Chicago, alleging that while she was being processed after her arrest, Shaw subjected her to a “barrage of sexually explicit comments and propositions.”
The suit is pending.
