VIRGINIA BEACH — A city police officer charged this week with committing a sexual assault while acting in his official capacity was transferred to another local jail, according to a sheriff’s office spokeswoman.
On Monday, a grand jury indicted Sean A. Fearon, 22, on charges of sexual penetration with an object, abduction with intent to defile, and concealing or destroying evidence. Fearon was arrested later that day and ordered held without bond.
He initially was placed in protective custody in the Virginia Beach city jail, but was transferred Tuesday to another facility, jail spokeswoman Toni Guagenti said. She declined to say where he was taken, but online records indicate he was moved to the Chesapeake jail.
Virginia Beach attorney Tom Sheppard told Circuit Judge Afshin Farashahi on Tuesday he’s been retained to represent Fearon, and was trying to get a bond hearing scheduled for Thursday.
Farashahi told the defense lawyer he plans to recuse himself from the case because Fearon is a local police officer. The judge said his colleagues on the Circuit Court likely will do the same, which is typical in cases involving local law enforcement. The Virginia Beach Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office recused itself from the case, and a special prosecutor from Chesapeake was appointed to handle it.
A court document filed by special prosecutor Madeline Woodruff on Monday said Fearon has been a Virginia Beach police officer since June 2022. It also said he’d been in the United States for four years, and has significant family ties in Jamaica. Woodruff asked in her motion that his indictment be sealed until after his arrest to protect the alleged victim, as well as the officers assigned to take him into custody.
Virginia Beach police said in a statement Monday the department began investigating Fearon after receiving a complaint June 14. His police powers were suspended and he was placed on administrative duty, the department said. A checklist for bail in his court file said he was suspended without pay.
Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com
