Ex-lawman pleads guilty to attempted rape in Norfolk

NORFOLK

A former Florida police officer pleaded guilty Tuesday to attempted rape in 2005 when he was a Navy sailor.

Steven Binsse, 28, pleaded guilty in Circuit Court to attempted rape, a felony, and sexual battery, a misdemeanor. He faces as much as five years in prison when he is sentenced in February.

Binsse, who was denied bail, was originally charged with felony counts of rape and object sexual penetration. Binsse was one of four sailors involved in an assault against a woman at the Navy Lodge on Hampton Boulevard in September 2005, court records state. The men were charged this year after film of the assault was processed from disposable cameras and given to police, according to court records.

Binsse was arrested in July in Florida, where he worked as a police officer in Port St. Lucie, court records state. A department spokesman said Binsse is no longer employed there.

An attorney for Binsse declined to comment on the plea agreement.

Two former sailors, Dante Ruiz, 29, and Rizwan Khan, 28, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of accessory after the fact. The two agreed to cooperate with prosecutors as part of their plea agreements, court records state.

A fourth man, Fredrick J. Ford, 32, is charged with rape and object sexual penetration. Ford was a petty officer third class based at Jacksonville Naval Air Station in Florida when he was arrested, court records state. Ford is scheduled for trial on the felonies in December.

Louis Hansen, (757) 446-2341, louis.hansen@pilotonline.com