Sex assault charges filed against Chester police officer

CHESTER, Pa. (WPVI) -- A Chester police officer has been charged with sexually assaulting two women in separate instances while on duty.

Officer Albert Ross, 47, of the 1400 block of West 7th Street in Chester, is charged with two counts of official oppression, harassment and indecent assault without the consent of others.

Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan said Ross inappropriately touched a 46-year-old woman at her home during a service call on May 20th.

"He isolated the victim, in this in case inside the kitchen, and when he approached the victim he took his flashlight and placed it down her breast or cleavage area," Whelan said. "He then made statements asking her to expose herself. She did not. She reported it."

Prosecutors say Ross groped and kissed a different woman on another occasion in an elevator in the building where the Chester Police Department is located.

A woman who'd didn't want to be identified says she was the woman in the elevator.

"Sickening, sickening, that is what I say, because you shouldn't have the authority to do this and then you are doing it inside of the building where you work at. There is no protection for us as citizens," she said.

The District Attorney says Ross has been under review since that 2015 allegation, but says there was not enough evidence to charge him, until now. The DA's office says the second incident supported the allegations from the first case.

"It took me 24 hours to really conjure myself to want to talk about it. But I talked to a retired detective and he told me to go forward, don't hide, because he will do it to somebody else, so I came forward," the alleged victim said.

Action News has also learned that Ross was accused of sexual harassment while working at two other locations in the past.

"Officer Ross used his position of authority to coerce and intimidate these women into acts for his own sexual gratification," Whelan said. "His behavior is extremely offensive. As a police officer, he took an oath to serve and protect the residents of Chester, and for that reason we hold him to a higher standard of conduct."

"There will be more to come forward," that alleged victim said. "I am not the first and I am not going to be the last... that we already know. He's done this before in different counties and different areas."

Ross was arrested by detectives from the Delaware County Criminal Investigation Division, and a judge set bail at $250,000.

There was no one at his home when we stopped by.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for September 13.

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