A Fairfax County sheriff’s deputy has been charged with second-degree rape after an incident early Sunday morning in Ocean City, police said.
A 22-year-old woman said Zachary Taylor, 31, took her back to his hotel room when she was intoxicated, sexually assaulted her and left her alone in the hotel elevator, police said.
A hotel employee found the woman crying hysterically on a couch in the lobby, according to an Ocean City Police Department report.
Officers reviewed Taylor’s description of the events and the woman’s account before charging him, said Officer Michael Levy, an Ocean City Police Department spokesman.
“The report came in to us in the early morning hours. Officers got to the scene and met with the victim. She was in a room at a hotel with a guy she didn’t know and believed she had been assaulted,” Levy said.
“She was extremely upset.”
Police obtained an arrest warrant Wednesday and expected Taylor to turn himself in to Maryland authorities Thursday afternoon, Levy said.
Taylor was placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation, said Lt. Sonny Cachuela, a spokesman for the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office. Taylor has worked at the sheriff’s office for 5 1/2 years.
“It’s a huge surprise. It’s something that any organization does not want to happen,” Cachuela said, adding the matter remains under investigation.
