Pa. constable charged with indecent assault for allegedly fondling female prisoner

A Pennsylvania constable stands accused of indecent assault stemming from an incident in which the man allegedly forced a female prisoner he was transporting to show him her bare chest.

Kevin J. Walker, 43, of Chester, surrendered to the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office on Monday, according to local media reports and court records.

Walker had been driving an unidentified woman from a court hearing in Media to the Delaware County Prison when he ordered her to show him her breast.

At first, the woman declined, but she acquiesced after Walker made like he was going to throw her release papers out of the vehicle’s window, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, which cited information found in the affidavit of probable cause used in Walker’s arrest.

Walker’s criminal court docket sheet shows that he has been charged with official oppression, indecent assault and institutional sexual assault.

The alleged incident occurred in January, the Inquirer reported, but criminal charges weren’t filed against Walker until late February after the victim came forward and told her story.

According to his docket sheet, Walker turned himself into authorities on Monday, and he was released after posting 10 percent of his $25,000 bail following a preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge Stephanie H. Klein that same day.

News of Walker’s arrest comes on the heels of another Pennsylvania constable’s trouble with the law.

In mid-February, 27-year-old Bradley A. Buchanan, a constable from Birdsboro, Pa., turned himself into Berks County authorities on charges that he had indecent sexual contact with a minor whom he befriended on the social networking website Facebook.

Buchanan has been charged with statutory sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault with someone under 13, indecent exposure, corruption of minors, unlawful contact with a minor and luring a child into a motor vehicle.

Constables, who are elected in Pennsylvania, are similar to county sheriff’s deputies in that they provide transportation and security for courthouses.

While deputy sheriff’s work for the county prison systems, constables are only empowered to work for magisterial district courts.