Former cop Jared Elkins, 34, was convicted on Wednesday of raping his ex-wife’s cousin in her own home after a family get-together. His defense insisted this was consensual sex and the victim, 23, was overreacting. Jurors in San Diego, California didn’t believe that story.
They found Elkins guilty of forcible rape, oral copulation, oral copulation by force, and sexual penetration by force, according to CBS 8. The jury acquitted Elkins on charges of rape of an intoxicated person, two counts of oral copulation of an intoxicated person, and sexual penetration of an intoxicated person.
Prosecutors said Elkins, a police officer in Yuma, joined his then-wife and her family after dinner and watched some movies at the victim’s home. Everyone was drinking and later went to bed. It was at this time that the defendant raped the woman, and threatened to kill her if she told anyone, authorities said. The woman testified that she pretended to be asleep so that Elkins would stop, according to the Times of San Diego. The victim contacted her mother, and they climbed out of a window for their safety. 911 was called, leading to an arrest.
Elkins denied the rape allegation. His defense tried and failed to use this woman’s Zoloft proscription against her by suggesting that her depression and anxiety led her to overreact.
Closing arguments by Deputy District Attorney Lisa Fox carried the day. “She’s in her own home,” she said. “She trusted him.”
Sentencing is set for March 8.
[Screengrab via Fox 5]