Former Durham Police Department Officer Sentenced for Sexual Assault
Thursday, January 15, 2026 - Rayshawn Deon Taylor, 36, a former Durham Police Department officer, was sentenced to 37 months in prison and two years of supervised release for sexually assaulting a man during a welfare check on Aug. 21, 2024. Taylor previously pleaded guilty to one count of deprivation of rights under color of law involving sexual misconduct.
According to filed plea documents, on Aug. 21, 2024, Taylor was on duty as a corporal with the Durham Police Department (DPD) when he conducted a welfare check on the victim at the victim’s residence. During the welfare check, Taylor sexually assaulted the victim. Taylor communicated with the victim using a translation application on his personal cell phone and threatened to arrest the victim if he said anything about the assault. Investigators later determined that Taylor deleted the translation application from his cell phone and the cache information associated with the application. Taylor did not activate his body-worn camera during this encounter with the victim, in violation of DPD policy, but portions of the encounter were captured by the dashboard camera on Taylor’s patrol vehicle.
Assistant Attorney General K. Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney Dan Bishop for the Middle District of North Carolina, and Special Agent in Charge James C. Barnacle Jr. of the FBI Charlotte Field Office made the announcement.
The FBI Charlotte Field Office and the Durham Police Department investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley Waid for the Middle District of North Carolina and Trial Attorney Chloe Neely of the Civil Rights Division prosecuted the case.
U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
Source: Justice.gov
