This Week's Adventures in Law Enforcement: Child Endangerment Edition

[MrScorpio]

State Trooper Could Face Another Molestation Trial

Posted: Apr 16, 2010 8:37 AM

Updated: Apr 16, 2010 10:12 AM

WARREN COUNTY, MS (WLBT) - Attorney General, Jim Hood, says he will seek another criminal trial in Warren County against Mississippi state trooper, Dane Davenport.

Hood tells The Vicksburg Post that Davenport will face four counts of fondling a young child.

Davenport was acquitted last month on five counts of child sexual battery and molestation in the same indictment.

He was also acquitted last year on a related molestation charge in Oktibbeha County.

Davenport's first trial in September 2008 resulted in a deadlocked jury.

He has been on unpaid administrative leave since his nine-count indictment in January of 2008.

http://www.wlbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=12322902

A veteran U.S. Capitol Police officer was arrested on Thursday after Manassas City police officers tracked child pornography distributed on the Internet to his home in Woodbridge.

Dennis Bell, 55, was arrested Thursday as he returned home from work. Manassas City police said a wider computer forensics investigation that began in December tracked illegal images to Bell’s home. Police said the images originated there and were sent via the Internet.

The FBI, Prince William County police and members of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force searched Bell’s home on Thursday and removed several computers containing child pornography, police said.

Bell has been charged with one court of distributing child pornography and one count of posessing child pornography.

He is being held at the Prince William Adult Detention Center on $20,000 bond and is expected to appear in court on May 25.

-- Josh White

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/crime-scene/josh-white/us-capitol-police-officer-arre.html

Part-time Welsh police officer arrested for child trafficking

Posted: Apr 16, 2010 12:55 PM

Updated: Apr 16, 2010 12:55 PM

LAKE CHARLES, LA (KPLC) - A part-time police officer in Welsh was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly trafficking a child for sexual purposes.

23-year-old Eric Williams of Orange, Texas turned himself into the Calcasieu Correctional Center on Wednesday after a warrant had been issued for his arrest.

Multiple charges were filed against Williams - one count of trafficking a child for sexual purpose and two counts of indecent behavior with a juvenile.

According to Welsh Police Chief Tommy Chaisson, Williams is still listed as employed with Welsh Police Department, but has not been at work since December.

Chaisson says, "This is an embarrassment for the Welsh Police Department, but everyone is considered innocent until proven guilty."

Williams remains in the Calcasieu Correctional Center and is being held under a $1 million bond.

http://www.kplctv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12324545

Friday, Apr. 16, 2010

Probation for trooper who crashed, killing Collinsville sisters

BY GEORGE PAWLACZYK - News-Democrat

BELLEVILLE -- Illinois State Trooper Matt Mitchell pleaded guilty Friday to recklessly driving his squad car at 126 mph until he lost control and collided with a car occupied by sisters Jessica Uhl, 18, and Kelli Uhl, 13, who were killed instantly.

Mitchell received a sentence of 30 months of probation, a plea agreement negotiated over weeks by prosecutors and Mitchell's defense attorney John O'Gara with the approval of the Uhl family and the occupants of a third vehicle who were injured. He will be allowed to serve the probation in Clinton County where he resides. The crash occurred the day after Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 23, 2007, on Intersate 64 near O'Fallon.

St. Clair County State's Attorney Robert Haida said that the concerns of the families were paramount in his office agreeing not to forge ahead with a trial or seek jail time. By this, he said, he meant civil lawsuits that could have been endangered if Mitchell went to trial and was acquitted. Mitchell is the first state police officer in Illinois to pleaded guilty to reckless homicide in a case where alcohol was not involved.

The Rest: http://www.bnd.com/2010/04/16/1218777/probation-for-trooper-who-crashed.html

Probe: Cop didn’t profile
Report finds officer used excessive force in pulling gun

By JOE GORMAN Tribune Chronicle

WARREN - He did use excessive force, but a Warren patrolman was not guilty of racial profiling when he ordered three boys to the ground at gunpoint, according to an internal affairs report.

Sgt. Jeff Cole, head of internal affairs, released the report Thursday on the actions of Officer Jeff Hoolihan in the March 26 stop. The report now is in the hands of police Chief Tim Bowers, who must decide what, if any, punishment Hoolihan should face.

The boys were returning home from school in the area of Sarkies Drive N.E. about 3:50 p.m. March 26 when Hoolihan, who was on patrol, spotted them running from the back of a Sarkies Drive home toward Atlantic Street N.E. There had been burglaries in the area, and Hoolihan stopped the boys.

The report finds that Hoolihan used excessive force for pulling his weapon and ordering the three boys - Tony Simmons, 10; Stephen Simmons, 9; and David Simmons, 7 - to lie on the ground as he searched their backpacks.

Their parents filed a complaint against the police department.

The parents of the boys did not return messages seeking comment. Their attorney, Andrew Thompson, said the family did not wish to comment now, partly because a decision by Bowers on any discipline has not been made.

Hoolihan also did not return a message seeking comment. His attorney with the Ohio Patrolman's Benevolent Association, Max Rieker, said he had not seen the opinion Thursday and did not want to make a statement until he reviewed it.

In finding that the department's use of force policy was violated, Cole wrote that the boys were running in a populated area at a time of day when kids are outside and there was nothing other than Hoolihan's observations to believe the boys were running from him or were involved in a burglary.

He said the department's use of force policy includes what is known as ''possessive force,'' where an officer uses a means of force that is not lethal, such as a verbal warning or a baton. Cole wrote that Hoolihan did not use that type of force first but instead drew his weapon immediately, which was a violation of the policy.

Cole also wrote the level of force used has to match the level of threat the officer is facing, and there was not enough of a threat to justify pulling a weapon.

Hoolihan said in his interview that he drew his weapon because he was in an unfamiliar neighborhood and that he had lost sight of the boys momentarily.

As for racial profiling, Cole wrote that Hoolihan did not profile the boys because he ''truly believed a crime was being committed at the time he initiated this incident.''

Cole said Hoolihan has never had a complaint of impartial policing or racial profiling in his career and that his arrest record within the past year also backed that up, with 49 percent of his arrests white males as compared to 33 percent of black males. Hoolihan also denied racially profiling the boys, the report states.

Tom Conley, head of the Warren Trumbull County Urban League, said he wants to read the report before commenting, but did say he was glad there was a finding that Hoolihan did not follow the department's use of force policy.

''It seems like this has been a positive impact on behalf of the family,'' Conley said.

http://www.tribtoday.com/page/content.detail/id/536077.html?nav=5021

EXCLUSIVE: BART Police Ordered To Turn In Tasers

Posted: 2:05 pm PDT April 15, 2010
Updated: 8:50 am PDT April 16, 2010

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Following an incident involving a BART police sergeant inappropriately discharging his Taser, transit agency officials have ordered all its officers to hand in the controversial weapons Thursday until further training could be undertaken, KTVU has learned.

Sources told KTVU that officers received orders on Thursday afternoon from the agency’s top brass to turn in their Tasers after interim BART Police Chief Daschel Butler issued a memo with the instructions.

The rank-and-file officers of the BART police department got word of the order Thursday afternoon and could be seen stopping by the headquarters at the Lake Merritt BART station. Officers approached by KTVU said that any questions would have to be answered by commanding officers.

The final straw, apparently, came after an April 1st incident when BART police sergeant who was responding to a call about an alleged assault at the Richmond BART station.

Multiple sources said the sergeant was pursuing a 13-year-old boy who was fleeing the scene on a bicycle and reportedly deployed his Taser at the teen through the passenger window of his vehicle.

Sources said -- and the police chief confirmed -- that the shot missed and the youth was uninjured, but that the way the Taser was used was raising numerous questions.

KTVU spoke with Butler, who said he did not hear about the incident until late last week. An internal investigation commenced on Monday.

The Rest: http://www.ktvu.com/news/23164719/detail.html

Former sheriff’s chaplain pleads guilty to sex crimes

By MATT ELOFSON
Published: April 15, 2010

Former Houston County Sheriff’s chaplain Curtis Grant was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Thursday morning after pleading guilty to more than a dozen sex crimes involving a teenage girl.

The 53-year-old Grant was sentenced by Circuit Judge Jerry White after entering the guilty plea. If Grant had gone on trial and been convicted, he could have faced up to 280 years in prison.

Grant was arrested in November 2009 after calling Sheriff Andy Hughes late one evening and confessing to having had sexual contact with a teenage girl.

He was indicted earlier this year on charges that include two felony counts of second-degree rape, two felony counts of attempted second-degree rape, five felony counts of enticing a child for immoral purposes, and five misdemeanor counts of second-degree sex abuse.

Grant had served as a volunteer chaplain for about three years. Grant only served as chaplain for the Houston County Sheriff’s Office, and not the jail, where another chaplain works full-time.

http://www2.dothaneagle.com/dea/news/crime_courts/article/former_sheriffs_chaplain_pleads_guilty_to_sex_crimes/145882/

Former policeman from LaMoure, N.D., pleads guilty to sex with 14-year-old girl

A former LaMoure, N.D., police officer faces five to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to having sex with a 14-year-old girl.

Kyle Mackey pleaded guilty Wednesday to one Class AA felony count of gross sexual imposition, LaMoure County State’s Attorney Kim Radermacher said.

Another GSI count was deferred for 10 years, so if Mackey doesn’t reoffend, it will essentially be dismissed, Radermacher said.

The remaining three charges – a third GSI count, luring a minor by electronic means and so-licitation of a minor – will be dismissed, she said.

Mackey, who was 22 years old when he was charged in September, was accused of having sex with the girl and sending sexually explicit text messages to her. He resigned as LaMoure’s lone police officer on Aug. 13.

Under the plea agreement, Mackey will serve no less than five years in prison and no more than 15 years, Radermacher said.

Part of the pre-sentence investigation will be to determine how long Mackey should have to register as a sex offender, she said. A sentencing date hasn’t been set.

Radermacher said she believes the plea agreement is fair. Mackey’s relationship with the girl was factually consensual – although as a 14-year-old she can’t legally consent – and no force was alleged, she said.

http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/275522/group/News/

Officer cruises past stopped school bus

By Richard Gould | Hickory Daily Record and Sarah Newell Williamson | Hickory Daily Record

Published: April 15, 2010

A Newton police officer has been accused of passing a stopped school bus while a wheelchair-bound student was getting off the bus Tuesday.

The bus driver and another witness saw the Newton patrol car pass the bus on North Ashe Avenue between North 13th Street and North 15th Street at about 3:15 p.m. The officer was not running with lights and sirens on.

The bus driver contacted Cecil Davis, director of the bus garage, who filed a report on the incident and sent it to Capt. Kevin Yarborough of the Newton Police Department.

Newton Chief Don Brown said it is not appropriate for an officer to pass a school bus that is stopped with its red lights flashing as children board and get off the bus.

"We take it very seriously," he said. "We certainly don't want to put anyone in danger."

The superintendent of Newton-Conover City Schools, Dr. Barry Redmond, agrees.

"We're always concerned when someone passes a stopped school bus," he said. "A child could be killed. We take it seriously and report it."

Yarborough is heading the Newton Police Department's internal investigation into the incident.

Brown said he believes it was a Newton officer who passed the bus, but the tag number provided by the bus garage is wrong. It's not from a Newton patrol car, but Brown said he thinks he knows which officer passed the bus.

The officer will be interviewed during his next scheduled shift.

"We will deal with it appropriately when we get to the bottom of it," Brown said.

He added that the department's goal is to make sure this type of incident never happens again.

"I expect anyone who violates this law to be disciplined according to the law," Redmond said.

The range of discipline will be determined based on the results of the internal investigation, Brown said.

The student who was getting off turns 17 years old this month. The bus was transporting students from Conover School, which serves disabled students from Catawba County Schools, Hickory Public Schools and Newton-Conover City Schools, according to the school's Web site.

Redmond said there is a bus monitor on the bus who helps the student get on the wheelchair lift to get off the bus. There is also a parent at the bus stop.

"It does take longer than a normal bus stop, but you're still expected to wait," he said.

http://www2.hickoryrecord.com/content/2010/apr/15/officer-cruises-past-stopped-school-bus/

Committee OKs $3 million to settle lawsuit by woman injured by police chase

April 12, 2010
BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter
Chicago would pay $3 million to a young woman who suffered permanent brain damage when she was the passenger in a car struck by a stolen van involved in an unauthorized police chase, under a settlement advanced Monday by a City Council committee.

The accident occurred at around 11:30 p.m. on Aug. 10, 2004, when Regina Varela was just 17.

She was in a car broadsided at the intersection of Addison and Kedzie by a stolen GMC van that ran a red light while being chased by Chicago Police.

A new pursuit policy that followed the 1999 deaths of unarmed civilians LaTanya Haggerty and Robert Russ on the same summer weekend requires police officers to get supervisory approval before initiating a chase and to break it off once the pursued vehicle starts disobeying traffic control signals.

In the 2004 chase, the officers never alerted their supervisors.

The police car was going more than 55 mph in a 25 mph zone. The van struck the car with such force, Varela's body was thrown out of the car and landed 40 feet away.

She suffered a traumatic brain injury, a fractured collarbone, lacerated liver and kidney contusion. She was placed in an induced coma for 48 hours and hospitalized for 16 days. She suffered from learning disabilities before the accident. But, the injuries left her unable to hold anything more than a menial job.

The officers denied they were involved in an unauthorized chase. They maintained that they were parked and idling just a block away from the accident scene when they spotted the stolen van, typed its license plates into their computer and activated their lights and sirens.

The Rest: http://www.suntimes.com/news/cityhall/2154255,varela-brain-damage-police-chase-041210.article

Police investigating sex abuse allegations against former deputy assigned to Rainier High School
By Helen Jung, The Oregonian
April 12, 2010, 11:31AM
A former Columbia County sheriff's deputy who was assigned to Rainier High School is under investigation for alleged sex abuse of a former female high school student, according to the Oregon State Police.

The former deputy, who is not named because there are no charges against him, resigned from the sheriff's office last week. He is in his mid-40s, and had worked for the sheriff's office since November 2006, said Columbia County sheriff Jeff Dickerson. He was initially assigned as the school resource officer for Rainier High and remained in that role until last June.

The former deputy resigned on April 6 while under investigation internally for matters unrelated to the sex abuse allegations, Dickerson said. He said the department had looked into potential violations of six issues relating to truthfulness and fulfillment of required duties, Dickerson said. The internal investigation sustained all six, and the department forwarded the matter to the district attorney's office. The district attorney declined to bring charges against him, he said.

The sheriff's office only recently learned of the sex abuse allegations against the former deputy, Dickerson said, and is cooperating with Oregon State Police.

Police are aware of one possible victim at this point, Oregon State Police said. Lt. Gregg Hastings declined to comment further on the ongoing investigation.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact OSP Detective Matthew Beeson at [phone] ext. 25.

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/04/police_investigating_sex_abuse.html

Fort Morgan officer placed on leave

By JOHN LA PORTE, Times News Editor
Posted: 04/12/2010 10:42:43 AM MDT

Officer Dominic Lucero of the Fort Morgan Police Department has been charged in Denver with sexual assault on a child and sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust.

“When the Fort Morgan Police Department received notice of this allegation, immediate steps were taken, and the officer was placed on paid administrative leave pending the resolution of appropriate investigations and proceedings,” Fort Morgan City Manager Pat Merrill said.

“This case is currently pending and may not be resolved for several months,” he added.

The charges, filed by the Denver District Attorney’s Office Thursday, allege that Lucero was involved in an incident between May 1, 2002 and Sept. 30, 2003.

Lucero was freed on $50,000 bond.

— Contact John La Porte at [e-mail].

http://www.fortmorgantimes.com/ci_14866154