NORFOLK, Va. — A 30-year-old man was sentenced to two decades behind bars for sexually assaulting a woman he met while working as a security guard, the Norfolk Commonwealth's Attorney Office announced Friday.
Jamir Wallace was working as a security guard at a grocery store on Feb. 13, 2022, when officials say he posed as a Norfolk police officer when the victim approached him for help with her vehicle that was stolen from the store's parking lot.
Prosecutors say Wallace asked to use the victim's phone to record security footage of the incident, however, upon returning the device the victim noticed he had texted himself.
The victim contacted the police herself and arranged to file a report later that day.
When his shift ended, according to prosecutors, Wallace called the victim claiming he needed to meet with her to discuss information he allegedly discovered.
At the victim's home, he allegedly accused her friend of stealing inventory from the grocery store and claimed he was going to arrest her.
"The victim protested, Mr. Wallace in turn asked where the victim’s bedroom was, and he directed her upstairs to it," according to the Norfolk Commonwealth Attorney's Office. "Once upstairs, Mr. Wallace locked himself and the victim inside the victim’s bedroom and proceeded to rape her. Mr. Wallace left the victim’s home before actual Norfolk Police officers arrived to take her report about the stolen car."
"The victim, too shocked and afraid to tell the officers what just happened, reported the rape the following morning," prosecutors continued.
Wallace was arrested three days later. More than a year later, he was found guilty of rape, forcible sodomy and impersonating a law enforcement officer on Aug. 15, 2023.
“Mr. Wallace’s serious crime has earned him a serious sentence,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “When the victim asked for help, Mr. Wallace raped her in her own home. My thoughts continue to be with the victim, and I hope that this sentence offers her some closure.”
