Sinmi Asomuyide indicted by federal grand jury July 24

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A federal grand jury has indicted former Kokomo Police officer Sinmi Asomuyide on two criminal charges related to a June 2024 incident which allegedly involved the officer sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.

Asomuyide, 32, was charged with sexual misconduct with a minor, sexual battery, child seduction, and official misconduct in July 2024. The grand jury convened earlier this month and returned with two additional charges: deprivation of rights and witness tampering

The jury concluded there was sufficient evidence that Asomuyide deprived the victim of her constitutional rights by unlawfully detaining and assaulting her. The charge includes an allegation of kidnapping. The second charge alleges that the former officer lied to Indiana State Police investigators about the incident.

Asomuyide is scheduled to stand trial on the charges Sept. 26 in Howard Superior Court I.

The series of incidents that led to these charges took place in June 2024, when Asomuyide was a probationary officer with the Kokomo Police Department. The victim, a 14-year-old girl, had traveled to Kokomo to reunite with her biological father. She stated that she had been on a “running away streak,” and that Asomuyide seemed to be the responding officer each time she left.

During one of her “running away” incidents, the officer transported her to the Robert J. Kinsey Youth Center but questioned her in the squad car instead of dropping her off. The victim alleged that Asomuyide asked her about her sexual activity and if she had been with older men.

She told the officer, “I don’t mess with adults like that.” Asomuyide allegedly responded by saying, "It would never hurt to try." The officer and the girl exchanged phone numbers, and she was taken to the home of a family friend.

Later the same day, the victim claims Asomuyide tracked her location and picked her up at another address, demanding her surrender and handcuffing her before placing her in his squad car. He then allegedly drove the girl to “an abandoned lot” where he removed the handcuffs and ordered her in the front seat of the vehicle.

The victim alleges that Asomuyide began touching her inappropriately and forced her to engage in sexual contact.

“I kept asking him to stop, and he wouldn’t,” the victim said.

Asomuyide then allegedly drove her back to the house where he had found her and told her, "If you tell anyone what happened, it's gonna be on you."

The victim approached Kokomo Police detectives a short time later after the department received information from a man in Illinois about the incident. The case was referred to the Indiana State Police, and Asomuyide was fired in July 2024 for "multiple policy violations."

The court documents also detail how Asomuyide allegedly deactivated his body camera during the incident and had requested two hours of overtime to complete paperwork related to a vehicle accident that has had worked earlier in his shift.

However, the GPS device in Asomuyide’s squad car showed that he was driving around the city’s northeast side during the time that he should have been completing the paperwork.

The grand jury concluded that Asomuyide lied to investigators by denying there was any sexual assault and that they would not find his semen in the squad car, which they did.

If convicted, Asomuyide faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, Interim U.S. Attorney Thomas E. Wheeler for the Southern District of Indiana, and Special Agent in Charge Timothy O’Malley of the FBI Indianapolis Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI Indianapolis Field Office is investigating the case, with the cooperation of the Kokomo Police Department, Bloomington Police Department, and Indiana State Police.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Blackett for the Southern District of Indiana and Senior Sex Crimes Counsel Tara Allison of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division are prosecuting the case. This investigation is ongoing. Anyone with additional information is encouraged to call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI.

An indictment is merely an allegation. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.