Ohio Cop Involved in Deadly Shooting Just Months After Being Hired Now Jailed for Raping a Teenaged Girl

Correction: We originally wrote that Justin Bentz shot and killed John Sowders, when it appears he fired his weapon at Sowders but missed. A bullet fired by another officer was responsible for Sowders’s death. We apologize for the error.

LIMA, Ohio — A Lima police officer was jailed yesterday after his department received a complaint that he had raped a teenage girl.

Lima police officer Justin Bentz, 27, is accused of raping a minor, and was booked at the Allen County jail yesterday afternoon. The alleged incident took place in nearby Shawnee Township.

TruthVoice spoke to Lt. Andy Green with the Lima Police Department, who said Bentz’s employment was immediately terminated following his arrest, and that his department was cooperating fully with the Shawnee Township police. Lt. Green said Bentz was still a probationary officer, and had only recently been hired in September.

Related: Oklahoma Highway Patrolman To Stand Trial for Multiple Rapes

Prior to his employment with the Lima Police Department, Officer Bentz was hired as a police officer by the Fort Shawnee Police Department in November 2011. During his employment, Bentz and another officer shot at and killed John Sowders, 20, just months after Bentz was hired straight out of the police academy. The official report, which had witness accounts only by police officers, says Sowders threatened to kill the Bentz with a knife. No officers were charged in the shooting.

Shawnee Township Police Chief Mike Keith told TruthVoice that Bentz was not on duty when the alleged incident occurred. A press release states that Bentz was arrested by Shawnee Township detective when Bentz reported for duty yesterday afternoon.

Bentz was arraigned this afternoon at 2:00 PM. Prosecutors are expected to charge Bentz formally within the next 48 hours.