CHEROKEE COUNTY, Ga. — Editor's note, Dec. 15, 2022: A jury found Lionel Dely guilty of rape and violation of oath by a public officer on Oct. 21, 2022.
During the trial, official said the victim and three others with similar stories testified against him.
Dely was sentenced Nov. 30 to serve 50 years in prison, followed by life on probation.
Original story appears below.
An Atlanta Police officer has been arrested on rape charges stemming from an incident earlier this month at an apartment in Acworth, the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office said.
The 32-year-old Officer Lionel Dely from Marietta identified himself to a woman as an APD officer "conducting an investigation" on Jan. 31, according to the sheriff's office.
Investigators told 11Alive the two had met that day and the woman let the officer into her apartment. Dely was in plain clothes and entered her home, that's when he identified himself as an officer with APD and said he was conducting an investigation as if to portray himself as being on official business, detectives said.
The rape was reported to deputies on Feb. 2.
Investigators were able to confirm the man was indeed an officer. They said evidence obtained supported the rape charge.
The man turned himself in on Feb. 11 and remains in custody at the Cherokee County Adult Detention Center without bond.
In a statement, APD officials said they "immediately relieved the officer from duty" when they learned of the investigation into the alleged rape. He was suspended without pay upon learning of the charges filed against him. On Feb. 21, the department said the officer had been terminated.
The department confirmed that the suspect was "not on official business" when the incident occurred.