Delaware County cop charged in indecent assaults while on duty
Albert Dion Ross, 47, used his position "to coerce and intimidate these women into acts for his own sexual gratification," DA Whelan said.
A Chester City police officer has been charged with having nonconsensual sexual contact with at least two women while on duty, authorities announced Thursday.
Albert Dion Ross, 47, surrendered Wednesday to face two counts each of indecent assault, official oppression, and harassment, according to the Delaware County District Attorney's Office.
"Officer Ross used his position of authority to coerce and intimidate these women into acts for his own sexual gratification," District Attorney John J. Whelan said in a statement. "His behavior is extremely offensive."
The woman told police that during the call, Ross put his flashlight down her tank top, between her breasts, saying "let me see," according to the authorities.
Police also found that in a separate incident — this one in an elevator at the Chester Police Department building in August 2015 — Ross put his hands down the pants of another 46-year-old woman, kissed her, pulled down her tank top, and grabbed her breasts, authorities said.
Ross was dismissed from a previous job as a corrections officer at George W. Hill Correctional Facility in Glen Mills for sexual harassment and "improper conversation with a subordinate," according to authorities. Ross also has worked at the Chester Housing Authority Police Department. A female resident there filed a complaint about Ross, alleging he kissed her without consent, according to authorities.
Ross was arraigned Wednesday on $250,000 unsecured bail, with his preliminary hearing scheduled for Sept. 13. No attorney for Ross was listed on court documents, and a call to his home Thursday went unanswered.
Delaware County authorities ask anyone with additional information to contact Detective Robert Lythgoe at 610-891-4243.
Staff writer Joseph A. Gambardello contributed to this article.