Deputy Granted Probation Before Judgment

ELKTON, Md. (AP) -- A judge has granted probation before judgment to a Queen Anne's County deputy sheriff accused of groping a woman in his patrol car in 2009.

Cpl. John Hoffman, 39, had pleaded guilty last week to second-degree assault, but Visiting Judge J. Frederick Price struck the verdict.

Price ordered Hoffman to serve three years of supervised probation.

Hoffman returned to duty weeks ago.

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