A fugitive police officer who changed his name and posed as a fundraising professional in the Virgin Islands is scheduled for a trial on sex abuse charges in March. The defendant who went by the name of Oluwafemi Banjoko was extradited to Tennessee in June by order of a magistrate in St. Thomas District Court.
Banjoko was indicted on June 9 by a grand jury under the name Bridges Randle — as he was known while serving as a Memphis policeman in 2000. A few days later, he was arrested on St. Thomas by FBI agents as a fugitive fleeing charges of sexual assault on a teenage girl while serving in law enforcement.
The indictment described the action that led to the charges against Randle and said he was “acting under the color of law as an officer with the Memphis Police Department” at the time of the alleged offense. Documents filed in the Tennessee case said the defendant was assigned to visit the home of a minor identified by the initials K.T. to take a statement about a reported domestic violence incident.
Federal charges filed in the case cite the United States Code, Title 18, Section 242. The grand jury indictment added the accusation that Randle deprived the minor of her liberty without due process of law, “which includes the right to bodily integrity, a right secured and protected by the Constitution and the laws of the United States.”
If proceedings go according to the current schedule set by District Court Judge Sheryl H. Lipman, a trial should begin on March 3. Unnamed sources associated with the case say they expect the trial to last 5 days.
If found guilty at trial, Randle faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. The last date for the defendant to submit a change of plea is Feb. 22.
