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Wilkes-Barre ex-officer ordered to stand trial on rape charges

WILKES-BARRE (AP) — A former northeastern Pennsylvania police officer has been ordered to stand trial on charges of using his badge to sexually assault eight women while on duty.

The (Wilkes-Barre) Citizens’ Voice reports that a magisterial district judge decided Friday that 54-year-old Robert Collins will face rape charges involving the four most recent alleged victims. Charges related to the other four women were previously bound over for trial.

Collins retired earlier this year after a dozen years as a Wilkes-Barre officer. He was accused in January of on-duty assaults from August 2013 to December 2014.

Prosecutors in Luzerne County have alleged that he used the threat of arrest to coerce women into sexual acts. Collins earlier said he planned to fight the charges, telling a judge he passed a lie detector test.

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Information from: The Citizens’ Voice, http://www.citizensvoice.com