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Former Alabama police officer and FBI agent convicted of raping 11-year-old girl

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A former FBI agent was convicted Friday of sexually abusing an 11-year-old girl while serving as an Alabama state trooper – a law enforcement job he got despite being kicked out of the FBI after earlier allegations he raped a colleague at knifepoint.First detailed in an Associated Press investigation, Christopher Bauer’s case showed how he managed to hide his checkered past and move from one law enforcement job to the next with the help of an allegedly forged letter that made it appear he was “suitable for rehire.”Bauer, 44, was found guilty of first-degree sodomy and sexual abuse of a child under 12 after a week-long trial in which his lawyers argued the girl fabricated the allegations. Sentencing was scheduled for Aug. 1.>> WVTM 13 ON THE GO: Download our app for freeBauer, who has been in prison since his 2021 arrest, faces similar child sex abuse charges outside of New Orleans. Louisiana State Police said Friday they plan to extradite him after proceedings in Alabama. Bauer’s lawyers were contacted for comment. Bauer did not respond to a letter AP sent to him in prison.During the Alabama trial, the child, now a young teenager, tearfully testified that he was repeatedly abused by Bauer over the course of years and was too afraid to say no or tell anyone what was happening. Jurors also saw a recording of the child’s 2021 interview with a child abuse investigator in which he described the same abuse.>> FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube The AP is withholding some details of the allegations to protect the girl’s identity. Law enforcement became involved after the child eventually told a friend and the friend’s parents alerted the school. Bauer took the stand and testified in his own defense during the trial. Asked if he abused or sodomized the child, he replied “no, never.” “If she said I did anything to her, that’s a lie,” he said under cross-examination. Bauer’s time with the FBI was not discussed in detail at the trial. The judge granted a defense motion to exclude testimony about a colleague’s accusations in Louisiana that he raped her at knifepoint. The FBI said Bauer forged a letter that cleaned his record and paved the way for his hiring by the Alabama State Police in 2019. The document, obtained by the AP, confirmed his 10 years of “creditable service” and declared him “eligible for reinstatement.” After Bauer’s arrest, the FBI told the AP the letter in question was “not genuine” but declined to comment on its subsequent investigation. Federal authorities did not file charges against Bauer but were prepared to if he had been released from state custody, according to two former police officers who were not authorized to comment on the federal investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.>> YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD: Local coverage from WVTM 13Bauer’s arrest came amid a reckoning in which the FBI vowed to crack down on sexual misconduct after an AP report found that supervisors avoided disciplinary action and retired with full pensions even after allegations of sexual misconduct against them were confirmed.The case also shines a spotlight on the shoddy system of defunding officers in the U.S., where problem officers remained in the police force by joining a new agency or moving to another state. For years, federal law enforcement agencies did not provide data on agents fired or disciplined to the National Decertification Index.Alabama authorities overlooked or were unaware of Bauer’s past misconduct. AP’s investigation found that in his application to join the Alabama State Police, he concealed his expulsion from the FBI, including the fact that he had been suspended without pay and stripped of his security clearance in 2018 when he faced a series of sexual misconduct allegations while working in the FBI’s New Orleans office. An internal investigation found that Bauer had violated at least FBI policy, including by having sex in an FBI vehicle.>> THE LATEST: Headlines and Weather from WVTM 13Many of the allegations played out in Louisiana court filings that had been public for a year, when Bauer was hired in Alabama. The woman who accused him of rape, a colleague of Bauer’s at the FBI, wrote in a request for a restraining order that Bauer choked her and made her “fear for my life.” Bauer has denied those claims and colleagues have told AP the acts were consensual. But the woman had previously told AP that Bauer sexually assaulted her so frequently that her hair fell out. “It was a year of torture,” she said. “He literally kept me awake for days. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t sleep, and in six months my weight went from 150 pounds to 92 pounds. I was physically dying because of what he did to me.”

MONTGOMERY, Alabama —

A former FBI agent was convicted Friday of sexually abusing an 11-year-old girl while serving as a police officer in the state of Alabama – a police job he got even after he was kicked out of the FBI after being accused of raping a colleague at knifepoint.

Christopher Bauer’s case, first detailed in an Associated Press investigation, showed how he managed to hide his troubled past and move from one job in the police force to another with the help of an allegedly forged letter stating he was “suitable for re-employment.”

The 44-year-old farmer was found guilty of first-degree sodomy and sexual abuse of a child under 12 after a week-long trial. His lawyers claimed the girl fabricated the charges. Sentencing was scheduled for August 1.

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Bauer, who has been in prison since his 2021 arrest, faces similar child abuse charges outside of New Orleans. Louisiana State Police said Friday they intend to extradite him after proceedings in Alabama.

Messages were sent to Bauer’s lawyers seeking comment. Bauer did not respond to a letter sent to him in prison by AP.

During the trial in Alabama, the child, now a young teenager, tearfully testified that he was repeatedly abused by Bauer over a period of years and was too afraid to say no or tell anyone what happened.

Jurors also saw a recording of the child’s interview with a child abuse investigator in 2021 in which she described the same abuse.

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The AP is withholding some details of the allegations to protect the girl’s identity. Police were called in after the child eventually told a friend and the friend’s parents alerted the school.

Bauer took the stand and testified in his own defense during the trial. When asked if he molested or anally abused the child, he replied “no, never.”

“If she said I did something to her, that’s a lie,” he said under cross-examination.

Bauer’s time with the FBI was not discussed in detail during the trial. The judge granted the defense’s request to exclude testimony regarding allegations by a colleague in Louisiana that he raped her at knifepoint.

According to the FBI, Bauer forged a letter that cleaned his record and allowed him to be hired by the Alabama State Police in 2019. The document, obtained by AP, confirms his 10 years of “creditable service” and declares him “re-employable.”

After Bauer’s arrest, the FBI told the AP that the letter in question was “not authentic” but declined to comment on the subsequent investigation. Federal authorities did not file charges against Bauer but were prepared to do so if he were released from custody, according to two former law enforcement officials who were not authorized to discuss the federal investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

>> YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD: Community reporting from WVTM 13

Bauer’s arrest came amid a reckoning in which the FBI promised to crack down on sexual misconduct. An AP report previously found that there were repeated cases in which supervisors avoided disciplinary action and were forced into retirement despite receiving full pay, even after allegations of sexual misconduct against them were proven to be substantiated.

The case also shines a spotlight on the sloppy system of decertification in the U.S., in which problem officers stayed in the police force by joining a new agency or being transferred to another state. For years, federal agencies did not provide data on officers who were fired or disciplined to the National Decertification Index.

Alabama authorities either overlooked or were unaware of Bauer’s past misconduct. The AP’s investigation found that he concealed his firing from the FBI in his application to join the Alabama State Police. Among other things, he had been suspended without pay and had his security clearance revoked in 2018 after a series of allegations of sexual misconduct while working at the FBI’s New Orleans office. An internal investigation found that Bauer had at least violated FBI policy, including by having sex in an FBI vehicle.

>> THE LATEST: Headlines and weather from WVTM 13

Many of the allegations were reflected in Louisiana court documents that had been public for a year when Bauer was hired in Alabama. The woman who accused him of rape, a colleague of Bauer’s at the FBI, wrote in a request for a restraining order that Bauer choked her and made her “fear for her life.”

Bauer has denied these allegations and told colleagues that the acts were consensual. But the woman had previously told AP that Bauer sexually abused her so frequently that her hair fell out.

“It was a year of torture,” she said. “He literally kept me awake for days. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t sleep, and in six months my weight went from 150 pounds to 92 pounds. I was physically dying from what he was doing to me.”

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