Florida cop brings K-Y jelly to convicted shooter's sentencing
While speaking at a sentencing hearing for the man who shot at him and his son, a Jacksonville, Florida, police officer taunted the accused with a tube of personal lubricant and a remark about prison rape.
Kevin Rojas, 21, was sentenced to life behind bars Wednesday for attempted murder and possession of a weapon during commission of a violent crime stemming from an incident in March 2016.
The unnamed officer, who works undercover for the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, called Rojas "a coward" while speaking in court Wednesday.
The officer then told Rojas he would have a tough time in prison, according to The Florida Times-Union, before taking out a tube of K-Y Jelly, a personal lubricant.
"You are going to need a lot of this," he said, implying that Rojas would be raped while serving his sentence.
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According to the Times-Union, the officer said "no comment" when later asked about the prop.
The officer's taunt is indicative of a widespread problem that's often the butt of a joke. A 2012 Department of Justice report said that roughly 200,000 inmates per year experience rape in U.S. prisons, much of which goes unreported (just about a third of rapes are reported in the general U.S. population; prison reporting rates are likely much lower).
The March 2016 incident that led to Rojas' arrest and conviction began when the officer, then off duty and driving with his son, had stopped Rojas after he saw him driving erratically.
When the officer attempted to pull over Rojas, the accused responded by stopping the car and shooting at the officer, who then returned fire, according to WJAX-TV.
Rojas fled the scene and stole a truck before barricading himself in a house, according to The Associated Press. The officer was shot three times in the head, upper body and hand. His son wasn't harmed during the encounter.
Rojas will have to serve at least 25 years before being eligible for parole.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
