A D.C. police officer is scheduled to face trial this summer on charges that he had sex with a young girl while working as a sheriff’s deputy in West Virginia nearly 10 years ago.
Sean Marenkovic, 32, was indicted last month on two counts of third-degree sexual assault. The indictment, filed in Ohio County Circuit Court, alleges that he had sex and oral sex with a girl who was younger than 16 between 2001 and 2003.
At the time, Marenkovic was working as a sheriff’s deputy in Ohio County, the prosecutor in the case, Shawn Turak, said Tuesday.
Marenkovic has been an officer with the Metropolitan Police Department since January 2008, according to the department’s employment verification office.
The charge is a felony and he could face up to five years in prison for each count if he is convicted. A pretrial hearing is scheduled for next month, and the trial is set to begin Aug. 22.
At the time of the alleged sex acts, the girl was between the ages of 13 and 15, according to the indictment. The indictment doesn’t say how Marenkovic and the girl knew each other. Attorneys in the case said they couldn’t comment on the victim beyond the description in court records.
Shayne Welling, the public defender representing Marenkovic, said he couldn’t comment outside of court proceedings.
Ohio County Sheriff Patrick Butler declined to comment on the case. West Virginia media outlets reported that Marenkovic worked for the sheriff’s office from 2001 to 2005.
Marenkovic was released on bond pending trial. He is on house arrest and electronic monitoring, was ordered to surrender his passport, and is staying with family in Youngstown, Ohio, Turak said.
Turak said the investigation into Marenkovic’s alleged sex crimes began last October. She declined to say how authorities learned of the allegations.
The grand jury returned the indictment on May 9. The indictment was unsealed a week later, and Marenkovic remained in custody at the West Virginia Northern Regional Jail until a judge modified his bond conditions earlier this month.
Ohio County is in northern West Virginia, near the state’s borders with Pennsylvania and Ohio.
D.C. police spokeswoman Gwendolyn Crump said Marenkovic is on administrative leave and his police powers have been revoked.
