Cleveland cop pleads guilty to urinating on 12-year-old schoolgirl at bus stop and filming the act
EUCLID, OHIO: A Cleveland police officer, who was accused of recording himself urinating on a 12-year-old girl after he failed to abduct her, pleaded guilty to his charges.
MEA WorldWide (MEAWW) previously reported that the disturbing incident unfolded on August 16 when Patrol Officer Solomon Nhiwatiwa, 34, was driving past Euclid Avenue in Euclid, a suburb of Cleveland. He saw the victim sitting on a sidewalk waiting for her school bus.
Nhiwatiwa drove past her and asked her if she needed a ride and drove off when she refused. However, he returned a minute later and parked his vehicle near her. He proceeded to approach the minor, exposed his genitals, and began to urinate on her while filming it on his phone.
He then fled the scene but was brought to the attention of the authorities by a resident of the area who called to report that a man was acting strange and peeking into people's cars.
After the mother of the victim filed a complaint with the Euclid Police about her daughter's horrifying ordeal, detectives pieced together the identity of the culprit and started searching for him.
Nhiwatiwa turned himself in on August 20 and was subsequently indicted by a grand jury on charges of attempted kidnapping (with sexual motivation specification), pandering obscenity involving a minor, disseminating material harmful to juveniles, assault, endangering children, criminal child enticement, attempted interference with custody, and public indecency.
He had remained jailed on a $300,000 bond and was set to go to trial on December 16. He, however, agreed to plead guilty in exchange for prosecutors dropping charges of assault, interfering with custody, and public indecency, according to Cleveland.com.
He has also agreed to forfeit his police commission and register as a sex offender once a year for the next 15 years.
The 34-year-old, who was first hired as a police officer in 2014 and worked most recently in Euclid's third district, is scheduled to be sentenced on January 21 and is facing up to 7.5 years in prison.
Speaking after the hearing, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O'Malley, who had promised to bring Nhiwatiwa to justice said, "He’s now been held accountable, he’s going to be sentenced to prison. My best wishes for that young child in the future as she goes on with her life."