Officer Arrested for Stalking and Sexually Abusing Woman



photo of Peekskill Police Department patch
Peekskill Police Department

Peekskill, New York

Peekskill police officer, Michael Agovino, was arrested Saturday morning on charges of burglary, stalking and sexually abusing a woman who he was investigating for larceny. According to the complaint, “The defendant contacted the victim, indicated what the allegation was and stated that he needed to meet her to continue his investigation. The victim agreed and met the defendant, who was dressed in City of Peekskill Police Department uniform, in a public location. When the defendant met the victim he accused her of stealing money, which she denied.”

Abuse of Power by Police

Officers have a lot of authority over people. When it’s one person’s word against another, the officer is more likely to be believed. Everyone knows this but this dynamic is especially difficult for vulnerable segments of our society. After the woman, Jane Doe, denied stealing any money, Officer Agovino took her back to her home. According to the paraphrasing of the complaint in the Westchester.News12.com story, “From there, the complaint states that he took her back to her home and made her strip, so he could “search for the money.” It says that he groped her while she was naked.” The complaint states that Agovino sexually abused the woman on two separate occasions and showed up at her home four different times. All while on duty and in uniform.

Victim Records Officer

Not knowing what to do or who to turn to, Jane Doe decided to record Officer Agovino. It’s an audio recording that is played in the video below as part of the news interview but they broke it into fragments. We made a partial transcription of the largest part of Jane Doe’s recording that they played. You can hear the other fragments on the video.

Officer Agovino:  You’ve got some nice curves. I like that, even these things. I love looking at them. Let me see.
Jane Doe: I already took my clothes off for you.
Officer Agovino: Yeah, but I want to see it again.
Jane Doe: No.
Officer Agovino: Have a good time.
Jane Doe: No! Don’t pull down my pants. White girls are bigger than me.
Officer Agovino: I want to see it.
Jane Doe: No. (starts crying)
Officer Agovino: After all I did for you. I’ve saved you from getting arrested and all that.
Jane Doe: (crying)
Officer Agovino: You can’t even show me?

This is a breaking story with a lot of missing details. Jane Doe gave an exclusive interview to the reporter from News 12 but we don’t know if she went to them rather than the police (who could blame her) or if she had already filed a complaint with the Peekskill Police Department.

Officer Arrested

Officer Michael Agovino showed up for work Saturday morning, was taken into custody and booked into the Westchester County Jail . He was charged with Sexual Abuse, Stalking and Burglary with his bail being set at $100,000. Other than his age, 33, no information has been given on Officer Agovino and no picture has been released yet.

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