Fired officer fights sexual assault charge

Only two people know exactly what happened the day Tampa Police Officer Adam York stopped a woman for speeding nearly a year ago.  She claims he sexually assaulted her during the traffic stop; York denied all of it.

During a police interview, Officer York told investigators the woman he pulled over appeared "a bit off" and flirtatious during the 10-minute stop, but there was nothing out the ordinary.

The woman told police that, hours before the incident, she was on a date with a man she had met on the dating app Tinder.  Later, she said, she was headed to meet another man in Lakeland  when she was stopped by Officer York.

During her police statement, she became combative with the investigators, even shouting  and cursing at them.

Attorney Anthony Rickman reviewed the volume of documents released and says this case will come down to the physical evidence.  For instance, medical records show York's DNA was on the woman's underwear -- known as touch DNA.

Rickman expects the defense to attack it.  "The only way his DNA gets on her underwear is if she put it there either intentionally or inadvertently."

Touch DNA is a transfer of skin cells left on an object after its been touched.  York's attorneys could argue his touch DNA was on her driver's license when he handed it back.

"This was a setup; she rubbed the ID on her underwear and that's how the touch DNA got there," offered Rickman.

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After 13 years as a Tampa police officer, York was fired from TPD last August.  Now he's fighting a sexual battery charge, but prosecutors will have to prove it first.

"We have evidence proving that you touched her and that evidence is in the form of DNA," Rickman explained.  "The state has the burden to prove how it got there and what the state is going to present is her testimony."