Officer accused of raping inmate heads to court

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. - A former Riverdale Police officer accused of raping a female inmate will head to court in Clayton County Monday.

The Georgia Bureau of investigation arrested James Robinson Jr., 36, in early September. He has been in Clayton County Jail since that time.  

RELATED: Officer accused of raping woman while taking her to jail

According to a Riverdale Police report, a woman was turned over to Officer J. Robinson for transport from the Riverdale Police Department to the Clayton County Jail on August 7 after being arrested for falsely reporting a crime.  Investigators said it was during that transport that Robinson allegedly raped the woman behind an empty building on Tara Blvd.

During a preliminary hearing Tuesday, new details of the encounter between the Jonesboro man and the woman in his custody were revealed.  

A GBI special agent investigating the rape allegations told the Clayton County courtroom the female told him what happened during the ride from the Riverdale Police Department to the county jail.  He said she told him that, during the transport, Robinson stopped and parked near a building on Tara Boulevard, where she claimed she was forced to have sex with him. The woman said she was handcuffed during the ordeal, and felt threatened and intimidated by Robinson. 

Robinson, when questioned, at first denied any stops along the transport.  GBI Special Agent Agie George says that when special agents pressed him about the unusually long time it took to transport the inmate, Robinson changed his story:  "His head slumped, he looked disappointed," Agent George testified.  That's when Robinson told investigators they did have sex, but that the inmate came on to him.

Once at the jail, the inmate "adamantly asked" intake deputies to not wash her clothing as she switched into a jail jumpsuit.  Her clothing was eventually entered as evidence along with a rape kit when she went to authorities following her release from jail.

Riverdale Police say Robinson had only been with the department for five months when the incident occurred.  His former place of employment, according to investigators, was the same tire shop where the alleged attack happened.