Cleveland Police Officer Solomon Nhiwatiwa Gets 4.5 Years For Urinating On 12-Year-Old Girl Who Refused Ride
A Cleveland police officer who urinated on a 12-year-old girl after she refused his offer of a ride has been sentenced to four and a half years in prison, The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.
Solomon Nhiwatiwa had had a checkered career both in and out of the Cleveland Police Department even before the August 16, 2019 incident. In 2011, when he worked as a private security guard, he was involved in a fatal shooting. Still, he was hired by the Cleveland P.D., and in a matter of a few years had accumulated four disciplinary actions.
In one incident, as reported in a companion Cleveland Plain Dealer report, he was suspended for eight days after calling a woman “Sir,” not turning on his body camera, and entering the woman’s personal information in a police report that didn’t involve her.
In the incident that led to him getting sentenced to prison, Nhiwatiwa was off-duty when he drove up to the adolescent girl, who was waiting for a bus, and asked her if she wanted a ride. She refused. A while later, Nhiwatiwa returned on foot. He then pulled out his cell phone and recorded himself as he urinated on her.
The girl protested, asking him what his problem was.
“What’s wrong, b***h,” he responded.
BREAKING: #Cleveland police officer Solomon Nhiwatiwa enters court to plead guilty to August incident in #Euclid. Nhiwatiwa accused of recording himself urinating on a 12 yr old girl as she waited for the school bus after girl refused to get into his car. ?@WEWS? #WEWS pic.twitter.com/VuFE0dferD
— Scott Noll (@ScottNoll_News) December 16, 2019
Not long afterwards, an area resident called 911 to report a suspicious person looking into car windows. Police later determined that Nhiwatiwa was the suspect in both incidents.
The girl’s father said that police refused to take the girl seriously when she initially filed her report. Common Pleas Court Judge Wanda C. Jones agreed.
“She was victimized twice. The fact that [the report] wasn’t taken right away is quite disturbing to this court,” Jones said.
However, DNA taken from the girl’s clothes matched Nhiwatiwa’s, and he was arrested.
In December, Nhiwatiwa pleaded guilty to charges of attempted kidnapping, pandering obscenity, disseminating matter harmful to juveniles, and endangering children.
In his sentencing, Nhiwatiwa offered his apologies to the victim and said he takes responsibility for what happened.
Jones, however, wasn’t convinced of his contrition, and sentenced Nhiwatiwa, who had been facing seven and half years, to four and half years. She also noted the juxtaposition of his crimes with his position as a police officer, which required him to protect the community from the very types of attacks he carried out.
As part of his plea agreement, Nhiwatiwa will resign from the Cleveland Police Department and will surrender his license to work as a law enforcement officer in Ohio.
