A former Austin police officer has pleaded guilty to official oppression and has been sentenced to two years deferred adjudication, a form of probation, related to allegations that he peeped in a woman’s apartment window while on duty last year.
Joshua James Peters, 36, resigned from the force following his February indictment on two counts of official oppression. The indictment accused him of subjecting two women to unlawful searches while acting “under color of his office or employment.”
In a plea deal with prosecutors last week, Peters, of Round Rock, agreed to permanently surrender his peace officer’s license. The second count dismissed under the deal and was to be filed as a Class C misdemeanor disorderly conduct, according to lawyers in the case.
Peters agreed to plead guilty to that charge and pay a $500 fine, said Prosecutor Gail Van Winkle.
Van Winkle said that after receiving complaints that Peters had been peeping in windows while on patrol in uniform in Northwest Austin last year, fellow officers began to watch him.
She said numerous other officers witnessed Peters looking into windows. The peeping incidents relating to the indictment each happened in an apartment complex, one in the Arboretum area and another near Steck Avenue and Mesa Drive, Van Winkle said.
Peters’ lawyer, Joe Turner, declined to comment on the case.