GOLDEN, Colo. — A former Colorado police officer was convicted on three counts of unlawful sexual contact on Friday, according to the First Judicial District Attorney's Office.
Wayne Darrell Nelson, 69, had sexually assaulted two women between April 2018 and December 2020, the office said. He was acquitted of a sexual assault against a third woman.
The three women, who were tenants and roommates of Nelson's, said they were afraid to report him because he was a retired law enforcement officer, according to the district attorney's office.
Nelson previously worked for multiple police departments, including as an officer with the Westminster Police Department before he was hired by the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office as an investigator in 2008. He stayed there until resigning in 2014.
The investigation found that at the time of his arrest, Nelson was teaching classes on carrying a concealed weapon and women's self-defense, according to the district attorney's office.
Nelson turned himself into the Jefferson County Jail in June 2021 and was charged with seven counts of alleged sexual assault on three women between April 2018 and December 2020.
