Colo. Springs Cop Found Guilty On 21 Counts Of Child Porn,
The trial for Joshua Carrier, a 31-year-old former
Colorado Springs police officer and volunteer wrestling coach at Horace Mann
Middle School who was accused of molesting 22 boys and faced 207 counts of
child exploitation, child sexual assault and possessing child pornography, has
taken a surprising turn.
7News reports that the
jury was unable to reach verdicts on most of the charges against him. Carrier
was convicted only on child-pornography charges, 21 in total, but he was not
convicted on any of the 36 molestation charges. The jury remained deadlocked on
150 other charges reaching no verdict.
The courtroom was surprised by the verdicts the jury reached.
The jury forewoman, who only gave her first name of Julia, spoke with KRDO and tried to explain. She said
that there were two jurors who would not agree with the other 10 jurors about
convicting Carrier on the child sex abuse charges. She also said the trial was
one of the most emotional, frustrating periods of her life.
District Attorney Dan May said he plans on re-trying
Carrier on all the counts the jury could not reach a verdict on. If May does,
he apparently has the cooperation of many of the children that took the stand
in this trial KKTV reports that a lawyer
representing parents in the case says the children are willing to take the
stand again.
The defense maintained the argument that Carrier was
simply performing his duties as wrestling coach, checking for skin diseases,
like ringworm, that wrestlers are prone to become infected by. Carrier's
defense attorneys also alleged that some of the children who testified--two of
whom alleged that Carrier tried to masturbate them, while another alleged
Carrier inserted a finger into his rectum while checking for appendicitis--were
encouraged to lie for a court payout, according the Colorado Springs
Gazette.
In May of 2011, Carrier was arrested for buying child
pornography and then re-arrested a week later on suspicion of sexually
assaulting several children. Before his arrest, Carrier was already the subject of an internal affairs
review for showing his gun at a middle school sporting event
(Carrier had been employed as a school resource officer and wrestling coach at
Horace Mann Middle School in Colorado Springs prior to allegations of sex
assault).
The Gazette spoke with an
alleged victim's parent who said that when Carrier was working at Horace Mann
as a wrestling coach he sexually abused her son under the pretense of examining
the young boy for ringworm, a common wrestler illness.
Back in May, when Carrier was initially arrested, a
Horace Mann student on the wrestling team made an anonymous statement to a CBS4 affiliate in Colorado Springs
that Carrier placed his hands on student wrestler's bodies frequently when
checking for ringworm:
He would actually take us into his own office one by one and touch us and
look at us and stuff.
7News reported that
Carrier had several assignments that placed him in situations with youth
including a school resource officer at Horace Mann Elementary where he also
served has wrestling coach, a coach for the Police Athletic League, and as an
advisor to youth in the Explorer Scout Program.
Carrier worked for the Colorado Springs Police Department
for seven years before he resigned in June 2011 amidst the assault and child
pornography allegations.
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Had enough? Write to the Speaker of the House, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515 and demand federal
hearings into the police problem in America.
Demand mandatory body cameras for cops, one strike rule on abuse, and
a permanent DOJ office on Police
Misconduct.
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