Durham officer accused of assaulting woman night of house party

Joseph Allen Daniels, 35, was charged Thursday with first-degree kidnapping, second-degree forcible sexual offense and sexual battery.

A 27-year-old woman told police that Daniels assaulted her on June 4 at his Apex home.

Daniel Meier, Daniels' attorney, said Monday that the woman was at a party at Daniels' home and spent the night.

"We’re fighting this. It just seems completely out of character," Meier said. "It happened in the middle of the night. His kids were sleeping in their rooms."

Daniels, who has been with the Durham Police Department since 2011, is married with two children.

"We contend there were a lot of witnesses. There were actually seven adults at this party," Meier said.

"He has individuals pulling for him," he added. "We’re going to vigorously fight these allegations and do what we have to, and we have the people to support him."

The department initially placed him on desk duty, but on Friday afternoon, officials changed his status to unpaid leave until the charges are resolved. The switch was based on "further review of the information provided by the Apex Police Department and the preliminary investigation of the Professional Standards Division," officials said in a statement.

"We understand that, because of the nature of the charges, why they did what they did. We disagree with it. We’re still pushing back on it," Meier said. "If anyone should follow and believe in the system of innocent until proven guilty and let the process play out, it should be law enforcement."

"We envision and hope for a world where the standard is protection for survivors and believing survivors," said Rachel Valentine, executive director of the Orange County Rape Crisis Center. "I find it very problematic that we don’t start by believing and that we give every benefit of every doubt to the alleged perpetrator."

Valentine said most sexual assault survivors don't report their attacks for many reasons, including stigma. Reporting an assault is especially difficult when the person being accused is in law enforcement, she said.

"In this particular case, it’s kind of overwhelming to even consider the barriers that this survivor had to overcome to consider going into a police station and telling them that one of their own caused harm to her," she said. "I can only imagine how scary it is, after having made that report as well. Knowing that this person, this assailant’s comrades [and] colleagues are still out there driving around with guns, her safety is at risk from this point forward."

Daniels was initially released on an unsecured bond by a Durham County magistrate, but a Wake County judge imposed a $75,000 secured bond during a brief court hearing Monday morning. He was released after posting the bond.

"At the end of the day, if he doesn’t show up, he owes the court $75,000, whether it was secured or unsecured," Meier said.