MOBILE COUNTY, Ala. — Mobile County Constable Albert McCreary, who also worked as a paid code enforcement officer for the city of Prichard, has been charged with first-degree rape and first-degree sexual assault, according to the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff Paul Burch said the charges, announced Monday, Aug. 3, stem from an investigation into an allegation that McCreary sexually assaulted a woman while he was on duty with the city of Prichard. The woman reported that the assault occurred while McCreary was on the clock, and investigators determined he was actually working a side job at the time rather than performing his duties for the city while being paid, Burch said.
Burch said details of the side job have not been released, but he noted it is unrelated to the funeral escort service that Prichard Police Chief Walter Knight and Major Aaron Tucker have separately been accused of running while on duty.
Sheriff’s deputies, working with the Gulf of America Homeland Security Task Force, located and arrested McCreary on July 28. Officials said a firearm was found inside his vehicle at the time of the arrest.
Based on the evidence gathered, investigators sought and received approval from the state to charge McCreary with first-degree rape, first-degree sexual assault, certain persons forbidden to possess a firearm, and first-degree unlawful imprisonment. As charges not yet proven in court, McCreary is presumed innocent unless and until convicted.
Burch said his investigators also uncovered a “violent criminal history” tied to a prior felony conviction in Escambia County, Florida. According to the sheriff’s office, McCreary was originally charged there with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill, a charge that was later reduced to a misdemeanor count of improper exhibition of a firearm. He was also charged with failing to disclose public aid over $200; adjudication on that charge was withheld, and he was sentenced to four years of probation.
Deputies said McCreary was previously charged in Escambia County with molestation of a child under 12 and felony battery. The molestation charge was dismissed after he pleaded guilty to felony battery. Officials have not released additional details about the earlier Florida cases, including when they occurred.
The Mobile County District Attorney’s Office is separately investigating the circumstances surrounding McCreary’s election to public office and is expected to file additional charges. Burch said investigators are continuing to uncover other cases involving McCreary from across the country.
McCreary was taken into federal custody by the U.S. Marshals Service on a federal hold and remains in custody as he awaits trial. He had previously been indicted by a federal grand jury on a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm, in a case tied to the same traffic stop that led investigators to him, and he also faces a separate civil petition from the Mobile County District Attorney’s Office seeking his removal from his elected constable post.
“This investigation demonstrates exactly why we work closely with our federal, state and local partners,” Burch said in a statement. “When allegations this serious are made, our responsibility is to follow the evidence wherever it leads. No title, position or elected office places anyone above the law. Our investigators will continue to pursue these cases thoroughly and professionally, and we will allow the judicial process to determine the outcome.”