Policeman accused of raping girl of 15 found dead in apparent suicide

A policeman accused of raping a 15-year-old girl has been found dead in an apparent suicide, it has been reported.
Joel Doseau, 43, is believed to have taken his own life at his parent's home around 11.15am on Thursday morning.

He was reportedly found asphyxiated at the address on E. 80th St. near Glenwood Road in Brooklyn.
The NYPD sergeant was arrested on August 5 on suspicion of multiple counts of rape and other sexual offences, the New York Daily News reported.

Doseau was accused of having an ongoing relationship with the girl, who is now in her early 20s, which began in 2008 when she was 15, two years below the age of legal consent, court papers show.

The officer, of Patrol Borough Brooklyn South, was alleged to have met the girl online a year earlier when she was just 14.

Joel Doseau, 43, was arrested on August 5 on suspicion of multiple counts of rape and other sexual offences.

A 40-count indictment alleges that Doseau had sexual intercourse with the girl in the summers of 2008 and 2009 and that he initiated oral sex "without such person’s consent".

The victim reported the abuse to authorities earlier this month.