A former Honolulu police officer who was found guilty of forcing a Waikiki prostitute to have sex with him by threatening her with arrest failed to show up for sentencing Wednesday in state court.

Michael Tarmoun, 38, was facing up to 10 years in prison for second-degree assault. He was free on $50,000 bail.

Circuit Judge Dexter Del Rosario issued a $75,000 bench warrant for Tarmoun’s arrest.

The 22-year-old now-former prostitute told a state jury Tarmoun picked her up in Waikiki on July 19, 2009, and took her to a Piikoi Street apartment, where he threatened to put her in jail if she didn’t have sex with him.

Tarmoun denied knowing the woman was a prostitute when he picked her up and denied having sex with her. He said he picked her up after he completed his overnight shift in Waikiki for rookie officers.

Tarmoun’s girlfriend testified the Piikoi Street apartment is hers and that she was out of town at the time. She filed for a temporary restraining order against Tarmoun two weeks after the incident.

A state jury found Tarmoun guilty this past June.

The police department placed Tarmoun on restricted duty at the start of the criminal investigation of the charges then later put him on paid administrative leave.

His lawyer, William Harrison, said Tarmoun has since been fired.