Former Police Officer Gets 5 Years For Sex Assault

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - A former officer for a Northern California police officer has been sentenced to five years in prison for sexually assaulting a woman whom he was taking to jail.

Bryan Robert Benson of Shasta Lake was sentenced to five years in prison Friday for assaulting the victim in a parking lot near the Shasta County jail in 2010.

The former Anderson Police officer was charged federally for violating the woman's civil rights after he pleaded guilty to a state charge of assault by a public officer.

The one-year state prison sentence he received led lawmakers to close a loophole in state law that allowed Benson to avoid a longer penalty because the assault occurred before the victim was booked.

At the time, the law didn't extend to arrestees who were being transported to jail.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press.