by Kaden Gicker

A Maryland police officer’s nascent, misconduct-riddled career was upended, when a woman sat down in front of a camera on Oct. 30, 2022, and agreed to be interviewed by detectives. The 27-year-old had a horrible story to tell, and soon, it would become clear she was not alone. Fox News reported that the woman informed detectives that she had been assaulted in the early morning of Oct. 26, 2022, by Wicomico County police officer Steven Victor Abreu, 30.

The incident reportedly took place in a Kohl’s parking lot. The victim claimed that she was meeting a friend in the parking lot in the middle of the night when a car marked as belonging to the Sheriff’s Office pulled up behind her. According to her, Abreu, dressed in full police uniform, exited the vehicle. He talked with the woman’s male friend before sending him away and approached her.

She stated that he told her his name and asked for her phone number before instructing her to exit her vehicle. She claimed Abreu then groped her and used his hands to sexually assault her between her legs. When she received a call from her friend checking on her, she told Abreu that the call was from the babysitter watching her kids. He gave her his phone number before he let her leave. He then harassed her by phone for days, sending her sexual messages. He pulled her over again two days after the first incident and told her to keep quiet about the assault and harassment. Her fiancé was on a wireless call with her at the time. The fiancé drove her to and from work after that.

After the woman reported the incident to detectives, Abreu was fired, arrested, and charged with false imprisonment, sexual contact with a person in custody, second-degree assault, fourth-degree sexual offense, and second-degree rape. After the arrest, at least six more women came forward with accusations against Abreu, according to Sheriff Mike Lewis. The accusations involved misconduct ranging from inappropriate talk during a traffic stop to sexual intercourse.

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