A Brooklyn cop has been indicted for allegedly exposing himself and masturbating in front of five female police officers on multiple occasions while on duty, officials announced Friday.
Officer Anthony Avosso, 31, a nine-year NYPD veteran from the 60th Precinct in Coney Island, was picked up by authorities Friday morning and charged with seven counts of public lewdness and four counts of exposure.
Avosso, a married Long Island father of three kids, ages 1 to 13, was released without bail at his arraignment in Brooklyn Supreme Court, where he pleaded not guilty to the crimes.
He was suspended from his post last month after exposing himself to a female cop assigned to the 60th Precinct for the third time.
After the victim, who referred to Avosso as a “pervert,” filed a complaint Feb. 16 with her Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association delegate saying that Avosso exposed himself to her while on duty, four other women came forward with similar allegations, officials said.
Avosso, a field training officer, exposed himself to his co-workers between October 2016 and February.
In one instance, Avosso’s female partner noticed that the zipper of his pants was down in a patrol car after they had taken a suspect to the precinct.
“The defendant begins grunting and begins masturbating while the partner is sitting in the front,” Assistant District Attorney Adriana Rodriguez said in court.
“Don’t you think it’s weird that I am playing with myself?” Avosso asked his partner, according to Rodriguez.
On other occasions, authorities charge that Avosso exposed himself to a probationary female officer who was just out of the Police Academy as he asked her about her goals in the department.
Avosso exposed himself again on a southbound F train to a female police officer sitting next to him on the way back to the precinct from the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, officials said.
“The defendant had his penis sticking out of an open fly of his pants,” Rodriguez said.
He also exposed himself to another officer inside the 60th Precinct stationhouse while the two of them were in a room alone while asking her questions, and then flashed her a second time while the two of them were in a police car returning from court.
The prosecutor said one time while Avosso was eating lunch at a Wendy’s with a co-worker, he opened his fly and exposed himself.
“It was an intimidating tactic because it was a male-dominant precinct,” Rodriguez said.
Avosso’s lawyer, Richard Murray, argued to Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun that Avosso is not a flight risk and that he “always had a very good evaluation” from the NYPD.
Prosecutors asked the judge to set a bail of $7,500, but the judge released him.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement: “There is no place for this defendant’s alleged outrageous behavior anywhere in our society and especially within our police department. I commend the Internal Affairs Bureau and my prosecutors for taking swift action to investigate and prosecute these disturbing allegations.”
Avosso’s next court date is scheduled for May 2.
Source: https://nypost.com/2018/03/02/cop-arrested-for-allegedly-exposing-himself-to-female-officers/