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A former Kokomo Police Department officer was sentenced on November 5, 2026, to 40 years in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl while on duty and then attempting to cover up the crime.
Sinmi Asomuyide, 33, was convicted in June 2026 by a federal jury in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana after a five-day trial. The jury found him guilty of deprivation of rights under colour of law (involving kidnapping and abusive sexual contact of a child under 16), witness tampering, and destruction of records. Chief U.S. District Judge James R. Sweeney II imposed the sentence.
According to court documents and prosecutors, on June 30, 2024, Asomuyide, then a probationary patrol officer, responded with another officer to a 911 call from the girl’s father reporting her as a runaway. Officers located her at the home of another underage girl. Asomuyide took her to the Kinsey Youth Center. He turned off his body-worn camera in violation of department policy while entering the facility and used the girl’s phone to call his personal TextNow number.
The girl was later released to a family friend. That evening, Asomuyide, still in uniform, went to the friend’s apartment, handcuffed the girl, placed her in his marked patrol car, and drove her to an empty warehouse parking lot, where he sexually assaulted her. He then returned her to the apartment. The girl reported the assault, prompting an investigation by the Indiana State Police and the FBI.
Forensic evidence included a dried semen stain in the patrol car that matched Asomuyide’s DNA. Examination of his phone showed searches shortly after the assault for phrases such as “how to delete text me account” and “TextNow delete account.” He deleted a messaging application used to communicate with the victim and lied to investigators about the contact and the presence of evidence.
Before joining the Kokomo Police Department in 2023, Asomuyide worked as a police officer with the Portsmouth Police Department in Virginia. He resigned following an allegation that he had sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old girl while off duty. When applying to Kokomo, he misrepresented the circumstances of his resignation, stating he left because he was “hanging out” with a 17-year-old who told him she was 19. Local reporting at the time of his 2024 arrest stated he was originally from Nigeria and had previously worked as a correctional officer in Virginia.
State charges filed in Howard County in 2024 (including sexual misconduct with a minor, sexual battery, child seduction, and official misconduct) were later dismissed after the federal case proceeded.
U.S. Attorney Tom Wheeler for the Southern District of Indiana said Asomuyide “exploited the badge in one of the worst ways imaginable” and used his authority “not only to assault a vulnerable child, but to try to conceal it.” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division stated that the defendant would be held accountable for the kidnapping and sexual abuse of a child, expressing hope that the victim could recover.
