Former Put-in-Bay police officer acquitted of making false rape charge
PORT CLINTON — Describing key elements to the case as a “mystery” and a “puzzle,” Judge Janet Burnside ultimately pieced together enough evidence to acquit Arica Waters, who had been accused by state prosecutors of knowingly making a false rape report, of the two charges that had stemmed from the allegations.
Waters, 29, of Lyndhurst, was indicted in October 2020 on two counts of making false alarms, one fourth-degree felony and one first-degree misdemeanor, in Ottawa County Common Pleas Court.
Waters, a former officer for the Put-in-Bay Police Department, reported an incident involving sexual conduct between herself and another Put-in-Bay police officer, Jeremy Berman, to a detective with the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office in July 2020. In reporting the incident, Waters said she felt she may have been too intoxicated at the time.
Why state prosecutors doubted Waters' story
However, state prosecutors alleged, based on Waters' own words and actions in communicating about the relationship to others both verbally and in text messages, that the sex was consensual and that Waters knew no rape had occurred when she made the report.
Waters’ defense attorneys, Sarah Anjum and Laura Dunn, disputed the prosecution’s portrayal of the situation and emphasized that Waters herself had not even used the word "rape" when making her report and describing what transpired.
Waters "reported she felt taken advantage of. She reported she felt coerced and that intercourse happened,” Anjum said. “This case is about power — those who have it, those who don’t, and those who abuse it.”
Following a series of legal battles over numerous issues tied to the case, Waters decided to waive her right to a jury trial in favor of a bench trial, making Burnside the one to determine the outcome of the charges.
'A lot of puzzles,' judge says
The trial began Tuesday and continued through to late Wednesday afternoon before Burnside, a visiting retired judge from Cuyahoga County, concluded the prosecution failed to prove every element of the alleged offenses beyond a reasonable doubt, resulting in Waters' acquittal.
“There have been in this case a lot of puzzles, a lot of things I didn’t understand, a lot of things that didn’t make sense,” Burnside said.
On one level, Burnside attributed some of that to being 75 years old when the people whose activities were described in this case are far younger and that this is a different day and age, she said.
Still, Burnside said she looked at the evidence in an objective way without being judgmental about how modern younger people conduct themselves.
“I might be 75, but I’m not new to text messaging and I’m not new to Facebook Messenger,” she said. “I have been struggling and puzzled by things right along.”
Burnside referenced testimony from Berman, which she said painted a picture that (Waters) was “a willful, almost aggressive participant,” but noted that evidence suggested he was intoxicated at the time, too.
Burnside referenced a few items of evidence that made it appear Berman was trying to impress Waters and make her believe he was powerful.
One was an impromptu helicopter ride that Berman reportedly paid for and gave Waters $300 to pay the pilot. Berman also sent a text to the mayor about considering Waters for a full-time job.
“He shows his determination to have sex with her immediately,” Burnside said.
‘Who’s in charge of this relationship?’
Further describing the situation, she said that despite living near where the two were in a hot tub moments prior, Berman contacts a friend to get a code for a condo, and, as he tells the story, they immediately went upstairs, had quick intercourse, and then he took her home and went home himself.
“When you look at this sequence of what’s going on here, it makes one wonder, ‘Who’s in charge of this relationship?’” Burnside said.
Then the next morning on July 6, Burnside said Berman initiates “round two” of sexual activity. Waters initially pushed back, mentioning she was hungover, before sending a text Burnside found to be a pivotal but mysterious piece of evidence.
“Eventually comes the quote of the year, as far as I’m concerned. Quote, ‘I can service you though.’ This text has always been a mystery to me,” she said. “After the first sexual encounter they had, she’s texting out there, she’s happy, she’s bragging, she’s forward thinking, she’s materialistic, ‘What’s in it for me’ — and yet, at this point, look at this interesting way that she’s providing the bottom line, ‘I can let you use my body for your sexual pleasure’ — so we have now reduced this exciting stuff to, ‘I can service you though.’ There’s no joy, no materialism, no attraction — there’s just obligation.”
Burnside said that all of that seems to support the suggestion by the defense that Berman appeared to be grooming Waters to do what he wanted because he has some power and he can get what he wants.
Regarding several text messages Waters sent to others during that time, some of which included descriptions of the reported sexual conduct in explicit and graphic detail, Burnside said that made her wonder as well.
“It just looks to the court that (Waters) was thinking out loud, she was testing the recipients of the messages for what response she’s going to get — she was testing her material,” Burnside said. “She is trying to figure out for herself what all is going on — almost like, ‘I have to type it out and have myself read it to see what I think about it to see if I can identify it and see what other people say.”
Waters did not use the word 'rape'
One of the most telling pieces of evidence, according to Burnside, was that Waters did not use the word “rape” when reporting the incident to the sheriff’s detective on July 7.
“It just seems to me that if you are out for revenge, if you want to get some guy back for dumping you unceremoniously and leaving you this way or that way, when you call the detective, you’re going to be able to say the word ‘rape,’” she said. “I was floored when I heard that (Waters) did not accuse Jeremy Berman using the word ‘rape.’”
Though she acquitted Waters, Burnside also noted that she believes all of the parties acted in good faith and that she was not at all surprised that this investigation took the turn that it did.
“(Waters) certainly did not know that the offense didn’t occur,” Burnside said. “I’m not sure she’s altogether clear what exactly had happened. But, certainly, by the time she doesn’t want to go with (Berman) for round two and yet says, ‘I can service you though,’ she was getting a fair indication of what this was all about.”
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This article originally appeared on Port Clinton News Herald: Lyndhurst woman Arica Waters acquitted of making false rape charge
