CAPE CORAL Fla.- A former Cape Coral police officer is in trial today, he is accused of sexually assaulting two teens.
35-year-old Casey Ortiz, who is allowed to hit is mug shot from public due to a state law, was first accused of sexual assault in the spring of 2014, when a teenage girl claimed she had sex with the officer during unauthorized ride-a longs. Ortiz was then fired from the force.
Today, in the first of two scheduled trials for Ortiz, the mother of one of the alleged victims was the first witness after opening statements.
She mentioned her daughter suffers from mental issues and never finished high school. The mother says officers were called multiple times to her house over the years for her daughter's outbursts, violence, threatening to harm herself, and running away from the home.
The mother says Ortiz responded to their home in September 2013, once arriving at the home, Ortiz took the then 16-year-old daughter into his cop car to talk and he gave her his personal phone number. Unauthorized ride-a-longs in his patrol car then followed between September and November.
The alleged victim, who is now 19-years-old with two children, then took the stand. She said that on their second and third ride-a-longs, Ortiz took her to his home where they allegedly had sexual encounters. She was even able to give a description of Ortiz's bedroom and where his house was located. She did also say Ortiz had a tattoo on his arm, but a quick body scan showed that information was incorrect.
In the initial investigation, Ortiz denied the allegations, but later admitted that the alleged victim was inside of his house.
Stick with Fox 4 as this trial continues.
