FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Testimony continued in the trial of a Miramar police captain accused of forcing a teenage girl to strip during a traffic stop.
Steven Gaynor, the boyfriend of the alleged victim, took the stand Wednesday.
Prosecutors granted Gaynor immunity in exchange for his testimony against Juan De Los Rios. Gaynor was 19 years old at the time of the incident in Jan. 2012.
The alleged victim testified Tuesday that De Los Rios approached her and Gaynor in the parking lot of the Fountains shopping plaza.
According to police documents, De Los Rios approached the parked car where she and her boyfriend were sitting in the back seat. He allegedly asked: "Well, are you having sex?"
When the pair said they were not having sex, De Los Rios told her to pull down her pants so she could "prove it," according to detectives.
"He asked me to pull down my pants. And my underwear. And to turn and face him toward the window. And I said, 'why?' And he didn't believe we weren't having sex so he wanted to see if anything was coming out. I said, 'coming out of where?' And he said my genital area. He wanted to check," the teen testified Tuesday.
Months later, in June, De Los Rios was arrested and charged with lewd and lascivious conduct.
Defense attorneys said his statements -- like the alleged victim's -- have been inconsistent.
The teen first reported that the officer who approached her was tall and blonde, attorneys said. De Los Rios, however, is short and silver-haired. She also initially said her boyfriend was 15 years old at the time. Instead, he was 19.
Defense attorneys believe the alleged victim was either trying to conceal the fact that she was sexually active or that she was dating an adult.
De Los Rios has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison.
Chief Ray Black of the Miramar Police Department issued the following statement:
"Captain De Los Rios' conduct that led to his arrest and conviction is abhorrent and certainly not representative of the dedicated men and women of the Miramar Police Department.
I want to extend my deepest sympathies to the victim and those who were affected by this unfortunate incident. No member of the department is above the law and any report of such officer abuse of authority will be thoroughly investigated and if wrongdoing is found, appropriate measures will be taken."