Former Police Officer Gets 5 Years For Sex Assault

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - A former officer for a Northern California police officer has been sentenced to five years in prison for sexually assaulting a woman whom he was taking to jail.

Bryan Robert Benson of Shasta Lake was sentenced to five years in prison Friday for assaulting the victim in a parking lot near the Shasta County jail in 2010.

The former Anderson Police officer was charged federally for violating the woman's civil rights after he pleaded guilty to a state charge of assault by a public officer.

The one-year state prison sentence he received led lawmakers to close a loophole in state law that allowed Benson to avoid a longer penalty because the assault occurred before the victim was booked.

At the time, the law didn't extend to arrestees who were being transported to jail.