The Virginian-Pilot
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PORTSMOUTH
A city police officer has been placed on leave after his arrest late Monday on a charge that he raped a 16-year-old acquaintance almost two years ago.
Paul Alonzo Ewing, 37, of the 600 block of Shenandoah St., is free on $20,000 bond pending a Nov. 10 preliminary hearing. A special prosecutor will be appointed to handle the case, said Bill Prince, a commonwealth's attorney's office spokesman.
According to court records, the girl alleged that Ewing, a four-year veteran, accosted her in her Augusta Terrace home in Westhaven on New Year's Day 2007. He was not on duty, said Ann Hope, a police spokeswoman.
The teen made her report to police investigators Sunday and passed a polygraph test, according to the records.
Police arrested Ewing at police headquarters about 9 p.m. Monday, and he appeared in court Tuesday.
He was suspended without pay, pending the conclusion of the Portsmouth Police Department investigation and the outcome of the trial, according to a news release issued today.
Ewing worked as a Portsmouth sheriff's deputy from 1991 to 2000, the sheriff's office said. He participated as a deputy and a police officer in programs for children, such as taking underprivileged kids Christmas shopping.
Last year, he and another officer won department lifesaving awards for using a defibrillator and cardiopulmonary resuscitation to help revive a 26-year-old woman who had stopped breathing.
Ewing's attorney didn't return a phone call seeking comment.
Pilot writer Janie Bryant contributed to this report.
Matthew Bowers, (757) 222-3893, matthew.bowers@pilotonline.com
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