A former Chicago police officer has been sentenced to one year in federal prison for sexually assaulting a transgender woman in his squad car while he was on duty. The incident, which occurred on March 19, 2019, has brought up concerns about police misconduct in the Windy City and placed the department under heightened scrutiny. 

James Sajdak was sentenced on Friday after pleading guilty to the crime last year as part of a plea deal.

James Sajdak, 65, pleaded guilty last year to a misdemeanor count of violating the victim’s civil rights during the encounter on the West Side on March 5, 2019. He had originally faced up to life behind bars after being indicted on several felony counts, but under his plea agreement with prosecutors, the sentence was capped at 12 months.

In handing down the maximum term, U.S. District Judge John Tharp said Sajdak not only harmed the victim he assaulted that night, but further denigrated the public’s perception of all police officers at a time where distrust of law enforcement has metastasized and threatens to tear the fabric of society.

“If the public can’t depend on sworn officers to uphold the rule of law, then no one is going to have faith in the rule of law, and that’s when we’re all in trouble,” Tharp said. “Because what stands in when the rule of law has been eroded and degraded is chaos.”

Tharp also said the sentence had to send a message “to other police officers who might be cruising late at night in a high-prostitution area that it’s not worth it.”

The former officer gave a teary-eyed mea culpa in the courtroom and expressed remorse for his actions. He explained that he had a moment of “weakness and bad judgment” when he assaulted his victim. However, it is worth noting that he did not actually apologize to the woman he victimized.

The details of the assault are quite chilling: The former officer coerced the woman into his vehicle under threat of arrest and used his position to compel her to do his bidding.

According to Sajdak’s plea agreement with prosecutors, he was on duty, in uniform, and driving a marked squad car on the night of the incident when he spotted the victim walking near West Fifth and Kolmar avenues “and briefly activated his sirens.”

Sajdak demanded that the victim get into his car, and after the victim initially refused, he threatened her with arrest, saying words to the effect of, “You can get in the front or you can get in the back,” according to the plea agreement.

The victim got in the front passenger side of the squad car and Sajdak drove to an abandoned lot in a secluded area, where he “locked the car doors, closed his police laptop and turned off his police radio,” the plea stated.

He held the victim in the car “for the purposes of his own sexual gratification,” at one point biting the victim and causing an injury. “After the sexual assault, Sajdak attempted to give cash to Victim A,” the plea stated.

Tim Grace, Sajdak’s defense attorney, asked for probation for his client, noting that he had led a “pretty noble life” but had “placed his own personal gratifications and impulses over his duty.”

The attorney also attempted to argue that the victim entered Sajdak’s car willingly and that there was “money exchanged” in an effort to show that the encounter was not forced.

Nevertheless, the judge was not buying it. Now, Sajdak will face at least a level of accountability for his actions. But it does raise questions about the severity of his punishment, especially when compared to what an ordinary civilian might have been facing if they had committed the same crime.