Former cop charged with raping woman with mental disability

A 51-year-old former police officer has been charged with raping a woman whose mental capacities were too diminished for her to consent to sexual activity, according to police in northwest Indiana.

Thomas K. Jackson of Trail Creek has been charged with four counts of rape, according to the LaPorte County sheriff’s and prosecutor’s offices.

In March, the Michigan City police chief asked the sheriff’s office to investigate Jackson, a Michigan City police officer.

The request followed accusations of “inappropriate sexual contact between Jackson and the adult daughter of a LaPorte County woman who was reported to have such diminished mental capabilities that she could not consent to such activity,” a statement from the sheriff’s office said.

Jackson resigned from the police department on March 14. On Monday, the sheriff’s office and prosecutors presented evidence to a judge, who issued a criminal arrest warrant for Jackson, police said.

At about 7:35 a.m. Tuesday, Jackson was spotted at a convenience store near Trail Creek (just east of Michigan City) and was taken into custody without incident by sheriff’s detective and the Michigan City Fugitive Apprehension Street Team, according to police.

He was taken to the LaPorte County Jail on the $25,000 cash only bond specified in the warrant.