An eighth woman has come forward saying she is a victim of Christopher Hays, the former San Diego police officer at the center of a sex scandal, KPBS media partner 10News reports.
The woman has been talking to a local attorney who told 10News the incident happened last June during a domestic violence call. The attorney said the woman claims that Hays blocked a doorway, opened his pants and performed a sex act in front of her.
The allegations are serious and are part of a larger investigation into Hays' conduct as a police officer. Seven other women have also accused Hays of sexually harassing or assaulting them while he was on duty. Hays has since resigned from the police force.
Charges involving the latest allegations are pending. Hays is already facing a number of charges involving the other women who have made claims.
Two years ago, the city was faced with a sex scandal involving former officer Anthony Arevalos who is now serving prison time. In 2012, Arevalos was sentenced to almost nine years in prison for demanding sexual favors from women he pulled over on suspicion of drunken driving in the Gaslamp Quarter.
A woman also claims that in 2002 a police supervisor sexually harassed her in front of a trainee. She said the incident happened during a traffic stop in the Gaslamp Quarter and that she had been scared to tell her story for more than a decade.
William Lansdowne, San Diego's former police chief, resigned from his post a few weeks ago. Mayor Kevin Faulconer said it was a decision that Lansdowne made on his own. Critics had been calling for the police chief to step down.
Faulconer was quick to appoint Shelley Zimmerman to be the new police chief. She is San Diego's first female police chief.
