A Prince George’s County, Maryland, sheriff’s deputy was convicted Friday of raping his ex-girlfriend, following a trial in which a key piece of evidence heard against him was heard by the jury and everyone else in the courtroom.
The conviction of 37-year-old Brandon Burroughs was announced on Friday, after the culmination of a four-day trial. He is a 10-year veteran of the sheriff’s office and had achieved the rank of corporal.
Burroughs had been charged with second-degree rape and second-degree assault in December 2022.
Sheriff John Carr said administrative proceedings continued parallel to the criminal trial, and his case is due to go to the county’s Police Accountability Board soon.
“It was a … rape in her home after a relationship had already been concluded,” said assistant state’s attorney Chanel Jackson, who prosecuted the case. “The survivor had decided she no longer wanted to be in relationship with the defendant. He did not like that, and thus tried to force himself on her multiple times. And unfortunately in his last attempt, he sexually assaulted her.”
Prosecutors said Burroughs told police that the victim was mad at him because she was “a sidepiece and wants to be with me.” However the rape, which occurred in October 2022, was captured by recording equipment inside the victim’s home.
“We had an audio recording. Unfortunately, our survivor was a very unlucky person to have to have recorded her sexual assault without knowing that was what was going to happen,” said Jackson. “In her home, she has recordings. And so the recording picked up a sexual assault. And we were able to present that before the jury, where it wasn’t just her word against the defendant, it was a recording of what she had to endure in her own home.”
The victim, who spent more than a day on the witness stand testifying, also had to listen to the audio of her attack while in court. During the assault, a 1-year-old child the two had together was also in the home.
“We’re talking about violations of an individual — of a body of an individual in the worst possible way,” said Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy. “You’re trying to take something away from someone, and that something is their dignity. When you rape someone, you’re trying to take away their dignity.”
Carr said that the sheriff’s office takes these types of allegations seriously.
“We want to make sure that our community understands that we take every allegation of misconduct and that we are true in our service to make Prince George’s County a better county,” Carr said. “Once we were made aware, through our process, our internal affairs division actually referred this case over, and as they referred this case over, were able to work with the state’s attorney and the Prince George’s County police to follow these charges through.”
Carr said the department is moving forward according to the Police Accountability Act of 2021 to address Burroughs’ employment.
“But our first and foremost concern is dealing with one, our survivor of this incident; and two our community to let them know that nobody wearing a uniform is above the law, that we are here to serve you,” Carr said.
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