A Cook County judge on Monday found a Chicago police officer not guilty of sexually abusing a woman while she was in custody and handcuffed to a wall.

Officer Stephan Shaw, 33, who has been relieved of his police powers and detailed to the alternate response section, had been charged with multiple felony counts including aggravated criminal sexual abuse, custodial sexual misconduct and official misconduct.

In acquitting Shaw, Judge Adrienne Davis pointed to what she said were multiple inconsistencies in the woman’s testimony, but she still condemned Shaw for exchanging Facebook messages with a woman he had arrested. Davis had been overseeing the bench trial that began in October.

“This court finds that Mr. Shaw’s conduct was inappropriate in the least and the citizens of the city of Chicago deserve better,” Davis said. “But the state … did not prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Last month, the woman, then 22, took the stand and testified that Shaw, while on duty, stuck his hands down her shorts and touched her inappropriately after she was arrested for shoplifting from a Michigan Avenue department store in May 2023. The Tribune is not naming her because she has alleged she is a victim of sexual assault.

Shaw’s attorney Tim Grace had argued that there is no physical or corroborating evidence to support the woman’s allegations.

The woman testified that Shaw groped her and forced her to touch him during the booking process at the Near North District (18th) station. He positioned himself so it appeared like he was adjusting her handcuffs, she said.

After she was released from custody, the woman and Shaw exchanged messages on Facebook messenger about her next court date and Shaw asked if she wanted to go out for pizza.

She testified that she did not want him to touch her, nor did she want to touch him.

“I just wanted to go home,” she said.

The woman has filed a federal lawsuit against Shaw and the city of Chicago, alleging that while she was being processed after her arrest, Shaw subjected her to a “barrage of sexually explicit comments and propositions.”

Davis noted the pending lawsuit, saying in her ruling that the woman contacted a civil attorney before reporting the assault to police.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/15/cpd-officer-sexual-assault-verdict/