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Former Maywood cop charged in Villa Park sex assault

A former Maywood police officer stands accused of picking up a woman while on duty and later sexually assaulting her at a Villa Park hotel.

Deon Sams, 38, of 212 Orchard in Bolingbrook, has been charged with two felony counts of criminal sexual assault and one felony count of official misconduct in connection with the March attack. He was being held Friday at the DuPage County jail.

Prosecutors said in bond court Friday that Sams was on patrol in a Maywood police car in the early morning hours of March 24 when he saw the victim walking along the street in Maywood.

Sams asked the woman if she needed assistance. He then returned to the police station with the woman, dropped off his police car and left with the woman in his personal vehicle, officials said.

Prosecutors said Sams took the woman to a hotel in Villa Park, rented a room and escorted her to the room. Once inside, Sams forced the victim to have sex with him, prosecutors said.

On Friday, Judge Thomas Else set bond at $200,000. Sams needs to post 10 percent of that to get out of jail.

During the bond hearing, Sams was described as a decorated 17-year police veteran who has resigned from the Maywood police force.

“My office takes any allegation of a sexual assault very seriously,” DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said in a statement. “What makes this case particularly disturbing is the alleged offender is a police officer.”

Berlin said the allegations against Sams aren't a reflection of the “fine men and women of the Maywood Police Department,” adding the department provided “complete cooperation in this matter.”

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