This WEEKS cop-child molestations charges

 

Former NJ officer charged with exploiting minor

NEWARK — A former New Jersey police captain who helped create a computer forensic laboratory to investigate crimes against children has been charged with the sexual exploitation of a minor. The U.S. Attorney for New Jersey says former South Plainfield Police Captain Michael Grennier is charged with one count of sexual exploitation of a child. Prosecutors say the alleged victim told police that the 50-year-old Grennier paid her for photographs and video of herself naked and encouraged her to perform sexually explicit acts on the internet. It is not immediately clear who is representing him. Prosecutors say he was detained following a Tuesday court appearance. The Star-Ledger reports Grennier was once named Officer of the Year and was considered a “computer guru” during his 25 years with the police department.

Mt. Pleasant, Texas: An officer pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual assault of a child under 14-years-old. He has been sentenced to 50 years in prison, and will be required to register as a sex offender when he is released from prison. http://ow.ly/hR19L

Lea County, New Mexico: A jury has found a now-former deputy guilty; he was arrested following the investigation of a claim that he sexually assaulted a 9-year old girl, and her 16-year-old sister. He faces a prison sentence of 18 years and a lifetime of parole and sex offender registration requirements. A second, separate trial involving the allegations of the 16-year-old girl is still pending. ow.ly/hTU7f

Reserve officer charged with child sex abuse

 An Ashland City reserve officer is charged with drugging one child and sexually abusing another, authorities said Thursday.

John Clayton Fields II, 37, is being held in the Cheatham County Jail without bond after he was charged with sexual battery by an authority figure and child abuse.

Fields is a former Cheatham County sheriff's deputy and Ashland City police officer. He most recently served as a reserve officer for the Ashland City Police Department.

Fields is accused of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl, who is now 15, whom he was babysitting.

The girl told authorities she fell asleep on a couch at Fields' Ashland City home and when she woke up she was in his bed and he was sexually abusing her.

The other case involves a 9-year-old girl, who told authorities Fields gave her a controlled substance, which caused slurred speech and for her to be unsteady on her feet.

Blood tests revealed the presence of the controlled substance in her system. The incident reportedly took place at Fields' Ashland City home.

Assistant district attorney Bob Wilson said officials were concerned how Fields was going to react to the arrest because they heard he had made some threats.

As a precaution, Wilson said two officers were placed at Ashland City Elementary School on Thursday just in case Fields showed up and tried to pick up his child. The school was reportedly placed on lockdown.

Wilson said Fields was asked to come to the Ashland City Police Department, where he was arrested without incident.

The DA's office and the Department of Children's Services worked on the investigation.

Wilson said the case remains under investigation to see if there are other victims.A bond hearing for Fields is set for Friday, according to Wilson.

County Officer Charged With Child Porn Possession

The San Mateo County Chief Probation Officer was charged Thursday of two felony counts of possessing child pornography, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Stuart Forrest, 61, of San Mateo was accused of possessing child pornography on Dec. 20 and 21 and was placed on paid administrative leave the same day. He retired 10 days later.

During his three years as the country chief probation officer, his department was responsible for implementing appropriate punishments for criminals while also aiding offenders to become productive, law-abiding citizens.

To avoid a possible conflict of interest, the state Attorney General Kamala Harris’ office prosecuted Forrest, rather than the San Mateo County District Attorney, Steve Wagstaffe.

"I felt that it was appropriate for the AG's office to prosecute the case in light of the close working relationship that my office has with the Probation Department,” Wagstaffe told The Chronicle. The U.S. Postal Inspector Service initially began investigating the possession of child porn.

Mount Horeb, Wisconsin: A Idiot cop was arrested on a tentative charge of sexual assault on a child. He is accused of repeated assault on the 14-year-old. ow.ly/hTaNk

New York, New York: A sergeant with fifteen years on the force has been arrested and charged in connection with having child pornography on his computer. He has been suspended without pay pending the outcome of the criminal proceeding brought against him. ow.ly/hTf7m

Cop guilty in school molestations to be sentenced Friday

A  Colorado Springs police officer convicted last year in a sweeping child-molestation case will learn his fate Friday. But if Joshua Carrier’s 18 victims and their parents are expecting him to voice remorse — make a statement of any kind — it won’t come at his sentencing hearing.
“He’s been advised by counsel not to speak for appellate reasons,” said Joshua Tolini, one of the attorneys who represented Carrier through two trials — one that ended with a hung jury, the other with a chorus of guilty verdicts. Short of winning an appeal, Carrier, 31, will never again be a free man.
Convicted of sexually abusing 18 of the 22 Horace Mann Middle School students who lodged allegations against him, Carrier faces a possible maximum of up to 500 years behind bars, according to a seven-page memorandum in which prosecutors lay out their interpretation of Colorado’s complex sentencing laws.
The sexual abuse occurred during the 2010-2011 school year while Carrier was volunteering as an assistant wrestling coach. It involved allegations that he fondled, groped and videotaped student wrestlers in the nude under the pretext he was checking them for skin diseases before matches.
He also was convicted of molesting children while checking students who complained of sports injuries and illness — abuses prosecutors say became possible because Carrier used his badge and a phony claim of being an EMT to garner trust.
The convictions include child pornography charges related to pornographic DVDs and images uncovered by Colorado Springs police. While Carrier’s attorneys dispute prosecutors’ interpretation of sentencing laws, they concede he faces at least 80 years and must serve most of that penalty. Even with a minimum sentence, Carrier would be ineligible for probation until he reaches the 70-percent mark, or 56 years.
In addition, many of Carrier’s penalties are “indeterminate” under sentencing laws for sex offenders, meaning he will not be released until prison officials deem him to be rehabilitated. Attorneys say it amounts to a de-facto life sentence.
“Whether he gets 80-to-life or 200-to-life, the effect on Mr. Carrier is the same,” Tolini said.
The case shocked a community and led the city and School District 11 to share the burden of millions of dollars’ worth of civil claims. School District 11 has refused to release settlement documents, arguing they are confidential academic records. In November, the district broke its silence on the case, citing “the spirit of cooperation,” and confirmed that it had by then paid $726,000 to four claimants.
Asked on Wednesday for an update, school district spokeswoman Devra Ashby referred all questions to the district’s records supervisor, Katherine Ritchie-Rapp, who did not respond to an email or voicemail from The Gazette.
According to testimony at trial, the city and school district approved a $9.4 million civil settlement with at least 14 families associated with the case. Others also have filed suit. The status of their awards isn’t clear.
Carrier, a well-regarded seven-year police veteran before his arrest, is being held without bond in a special ward at the El Paso County jail. Said Tolini: “They’ve got him in isolation. He seems to be OK and he’s looking forward to the appellate process.”
While Carrier is unlikely to flout his attorney’s advice to remain silent, Friday’s sentencing before 4th Judicial District Judge David Gilbert will mark the first time those impacted by the crimes will be able to address him in person.

Victim of Cop Josh Carrier speaks after ex-cop sentenced to 70 years

Convicted child molester and r Colorado Springs police officer Joshua Carrier was sentenced to 70 years to life in prison in front of a packed courtroom that included his young victims and their families.

"It's just a constant thing I deal with, and now it's over," said Troy Reader, one of the victims in the case who's now in ninth grade. "I feel like all the stress is off my shoulders. And I'm happy about it."

It's been a long ordeal for Reader and 21 other boys in the almost two years since Carrier was arrested for possessing child pornography. Carrier was a school resource officer and volunteer wrestling coach at Horace Mann Middle School. His wrestling skin checks, where he fondled boys' private areas and even filmed himself doing it with a web camera, were the crux of the molestation case.

Reader said his friends at school know what happened, but he's not ashamed to speak up.

"Now that this has gone on, I'm proud of it-- that I can stand up for what happened to me and say it happened and still be myself around them," Reader said.

Reader, his parents and other victims' families said they believed justice was served even though Carrier could have gotten a lot more time in prison for sexually abusing 18 boys.

"I'm glad he got his time," said Matthew Kurvink, Reader's step-dad. "I'm glad all the families do feel it came through in the end and the guy's not going to walk out the door today."

Prosecutors in the case say the victims showed great courage.

"I don't know how many of us adults can really understand how difficult it is to get up on the stand and testify about the most vulnerable moment of your life, when it's embarrassing" said prosecutor Amy Fitch. "It would be hard for us adults, but kids that age, it's awful."

Carrier's attorney, Josh Tolini, said that Carrier is looking forward to the appeals process. He said it would be about two years before an appellate court would hear the case. Tolini said Carrier will have a public defender from now on because of financial reasons.

Tolini and the district attorney's office aren't in agreement about when Carrier will be eligible for parole. Tolini said it will be after Carrier serves 75% of his 70 year sentence. The district attorney's office says Carrier could be released early for good behavior, but that it's unknown when that could be. Carrier got credit for more than 400 days of time already served.

 

 

 

 

new Police station in Tysons?

It’s now reached the point where the Fairfax County Police in McLean are holding their own press conferences to declare news on crime waves that haven’t happened and probably won’t happen either.

The motivation behind this grab for even more power in our government is the possibility of a new police station and other additions to our already bloated and grossly over funded police.

 We didn’t get a photo of the cop demanding a new police station but this is essentially what it looked like

There are several points to be taken from the cop's demands on our pockets. One is that the police in the McLean area are “overwhelmed”.  Not true. On any night of the week, several cop cars can be watched, and can be watched for an extended spell, stopped in Lewinsville Park, motors running on the gasoline we pay for.  But you have to watch from a distance. The cops make goddamn sure no one enters the park after dark besides them. And now you know why.

The other point is the pending mass of criminally prone hordes that the cops say will sweep into Tyson’s with the arrival of the Metro. Yes, as remarkable as it is, we employ cops too dumb to go find a better job yet smart enough to foresee the future. Ironic, ain’t it?

“More crime is on the way so give us a raise.”  What else would you expect a cop to say?  “Don’t worry, everything will fine?”  Of course a cop won’t say that. Cops live off the public till and in Fairfax County the cops live very, very well off the public teat and the best way for them to keep citizens from asking why the cops in Fairfax County operate on an open-checkbook basis, is to scare the taxpayer into thinking that without massive law enforcement spending, chaos and crime will rule our streets.

For the cops it’s easier to scare than to explain why they weren’t prepared for the Metro opening years ago, or why they haven’t figured out ways to deal with a possible increase in crime within their $300,000,000 budget.

 That would be the concerned, forward thinking way to handle this.  But thinking, concerned cops who plan out the community good won’t happen in Fairfax County, however playing the race card to pimp more money out of the taxpayer will happen.  In fact it’s happening right now because that’s what “crime will increase when the metro opens” appears to be.  It seems like “white speak” for “the black people are coming to rob us and the bastards are taking the metro to get here”.  

We can’t blame the cops for demanding more of everything. After all, when has the board of supervisors ever denied them anything?

Never. 

In Fairfax County the cops massive budget finances an underused and barely useful  Police Navy, a Police Air Force that’s proven time and again to be redundant and a SWAT team large enough and bored enough to fall out for the execution of an unarmed gambler they set up for arrest.  The cops literally get away with murder. So why not demand a new police station and a new hire of a hundred cops?

The policeman in McLean says that getting more cops to work for him is “critical”…yeah for him, not for us, but then again, your money means nothing to the Fairfax County Police because barely one of them lives in this county.

The proposed multi-million dollar Tysons police station would sit on acres and acres of commercially valuable land and would require that the taxpayer pick up the tab to hire an additional 132 new cops and 30 generically named “staff”.  To the cops it makes sense. Few, if any of them have ever held a job outside government. To them, your money grows on magic trees.  

There are other alternatives:

Name the station “The Bernard Goetz Welcome Center”:  In 1984, Goetz gunned down four black men on a subway because one of them asked him for money. Bernie is now the New York City police chief but I’m sure we can lure him down here with the right dose of medication. The Fairfax cops could get him to shoot black people as they arrive at the station, saving them the time of shooting blacks randomly over a longer period of time.  This solution also saves the cops the effort of thinking up another scary excuse for murdering people (“evil spirits opened the car door on my elbow, pulled the gun from my holster and shot the dangerous eye doctor directly through the heart”). With Goetz, they could just say “Well, Bernie's fuck’n nuts”.        

Bernie

Sharon Bulova: The cops could force all newly arriving blacks to listen to Sharon Bulova explain why law enforcement’s political contributions to her campaign wasn’t a political payoff to avoid police oversight in the county. After a few minutes of listening to this old white lady, black people will shoot themselves. Problem solved.  

Sharon Bulova

Where the hell is the chief of police and the seemingly endless, endless line of overpaid deputy-assistant-to-the- assistant-deputy-of- the- deputy- police-chief?  Don’t we pay someone in an executive level to make this sort of call?  Where’s Rhorer when you actually need him?

Rhorer

But don’t worry all is not lost.  Poster child for the perpetually confused, Supervisor John Foust, who kept his office in the McLean Police station for years, took his usual marshmallow stand and effectively said nothing. Well almost nothing.

 “Why do you feel the need for such a significant investment?” he asked the inquiring  reporter as if the reporter was planning to build the additional police station out of her spare pocket change. 

                                                    Supervisor John Foust

On the other side of the mentally challenged spectrum we find…and not surprisingly …  big time spender, lifelong government worker and cop suck-up, Supervisor Gerry Hyland (Mount Vernon) who said, “We’re going to need another station. The question isn’t whether, it’s when.” …and so much for democracy.

Hyland, a bachelor who has spent most of his life around men….we’re just say’n that’s all….not there is ANYTHING wrong with that…. may be little more than a waterboy for the cops, but at least we know where he stands, or in his case, which rock he’s curled up under.   

Supervisor Gerry Hyland

And in the end, he’s right. When those pillars of mush on the Board of Supervisors assume no one is watching, they’ll stop their puffery about standing up to the police.  Then the cops, with their one third of a billion dollar budget, will get their new station in Tysons.  That’s the way it goes here in Fairfax County where our elected officials are convenient liberals with bendable principles and the cops run the show. 

A now-former police corporal was indicted on a charge of continual sexual

Kingsville, Texas: A now-former police corporal was indicted on a charge of continual sexual abuse of a child under 14-years old. http://ow.ly/hIRjN

Mount Horeb police officer arrested in child sex assault case

Madison man suspected of repeated acts of sexual assault

A Mount Horeb police officer has been arrested on suspicion of sexual assault of a child in Madison.

Madison police said they arrested Dennis P. Jenks, 44, at his home in the 6600 block Raymond Road on Madison's far west side about 9 p.m. Wednesday.

Madison police said Jenks is suspected of repeated acts of sexual assault.

The victim is a 14-year-old child who knows the suspect, according to a Madison Police Department incident report.

The Mount Horeb Police Department said in a news release Thursday that Jenks has been suspended from duty because of the Madison Police Department's investigation.

Jenks is a lieutenant in the Mount Horeb Police Department, and he has been employed with the department since 2000.

The Mount Horeb Police Department said it is conducting an internal investigation.

Child Allegedly Handcuffed In Basement;cop, Wife Charged

 Child Allegedly Handcuffed In Basement;cop, Wife Charged

OTTAWA - An RCMP officer and his wife at the centre of an Ottawa child abuse investigation are to be back in court next week.

The couple, who cannot be identified, made separate court appearances Friday, and both were remanded in custody.

They face multiple assault and sex-related counts after being arrested earlier in the week at an Ottawa home.

With his head lowered and his hands clutching a sheaf of papers, the accused man said nothing as he stood in court Friday morning flanked by Ottawa police officers.

Tears appeared to well in his eyes as he occasionally glanced up at the judge.

The court reaffirmed a sweeping publication ban on the matter and the accused was ordered to have no contact with a list of people, whose names were not disclosed.

The man's wife appeared later by video conference. Wearing a grey sweatshirt, she was barely audible as she repeated her name to the court.

To protect the identity of the alleged victims, the names of the couple were not released.

Peter Azziz, lawyer for the accused man, said he believed the victims were in the care of the Children's Aid Society, although that could not be confirmed.

Azziz otherwise refused to comment on the case, citing the publication ban.

Police say the 41-year-old officer and 34-year-old wife are charged with several counts of aggravated assault, assault with weapon, aggravated sexual assault, forcible confinement and failing to provide the necessaries of life.

They won't say exactly how many children are involved, but say the case involves more than one alleged victim.

A police source says the investigation was launched after an 11-year-old child was discovered wandering in a residential neighbourhood.

And the source says it's believed handcuffs were used to keep the child in the basement of a house for months.

The couple were both scheduled to be in court Feb. 19, although it wasn't clear whether they would appear together.

The accused man has been on administrative leave from his job with the RCMP since May 2011, although a source with the RCMP said the man had not been to work for months prior to that.

He was suspended with pay Feb. 13, and the Mounties said they have launched an internal code of conduct investigation.

Minneapolis: Probe into cop's online life began months ago

The investigation into a Minneapolis police officer's alleged solicitation of underage girls for sex over the Internet started more than three months ago, according to court documents.

Brooklyn Center police started the pursuit Oct. 24 after learning of sexually charged communication on Facebook between an 11-year-old girl and an account registered to Brady.Schmidt.562@Facebook.com, according to a search warrant application and supporting affidavit filed Friday, Feb. 15, in Anoka County Court.

The account holder identified himself to the girl as "Brady Schmidt" and asked whether she was comfortable with pictures of male genitalia.

A search warrant executed Nov. 26 for the user's Facebook profile, as well as all friends and messages associated with the account, led police to Bradley Schnickel, the document said.

Soon investigators were combing through nearly 9,000 pages of documents detailing his online life.

The affidavit gives additional insight into how investigators first learned of the double life the former police officer and father of two is accused of leading over at least the past year and a half.

He was charged in Anoka County District Court on Feb. 8 with six felonies, including two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct, one count of attempted third-degree criminal sexual conduct and three counts of engaging in electronic communication relating to or describing sexual conduct with a child.

Minneapolis police announced he was no longer employed with the force shortly after he was charged.

The complaint alleges that Schnickel developed sexual relationships with four underage girls online, telling them he liked young girls and wanted to engage in sexual activity with them.

He allegedly had sex with one of the girls after persuading her to meet him in person. He is accused of masturbating in a car in front of another girl.

When he was charged, investigators had read through only a third of the 9,000 documents seized from Schnickel's online accounts.

With the rest now mostly reviewed, more possible victims could emerge, said Cmdr. Paul Sommer, spokesman for the Anoka County sheriff's office.

"There is every possibility that there are multiple additional victims ,but we have yet to contact or confirm that yet," Sommer said.

He explained that though online records suggest Schnickel was talking to more than the four girls mentioned in the complaint, investigators still need to link that data to actual people.

"The data itself does not confirm a victim. We have to confirm a human complainant and confirm what did or did not take place," Sommer said.

That will take time, Sommer said, adding that it could be months before investigators complete their investigation and the Anoka County attorney's office decides whether to file additional charges against Schnickel.

The Hennepin County attorney's office has yet to file charges involving the girl from Brooklyn Center.

Schnickel has been in discussion about his case with Fred Bruno, but the frequent attorney for police officers has not yet been retained, Bruno said this week.

Neither Schnickel nor his wife could be reached for comment Friday.

Schnickel was released on bail following his Feb. 8 court appearance provided he has no contact with juvenile girls.

Sarah Horner can be reached at 651-228-5539. Follow her at twitter.com/hornsarah.

A police officer who was arrested in an investigation of underage

•Haines City, Florida: A police officer who was arrested in an investigation of underage prostitution has pleaded guilty and received 10 years in prison. The report says that the man, Paul Aaron, who ran the prostitution ring, exploited runaway girls younger than 18; one of them was forced to have sex with the officer for free so Aaron could receive favors from him in the future. ow.ly/hDZiX From Police Misconduct.Net

A sheriff’s deputy has been fired after being tied to a child sex

•Douglas County, Colorado: A sheriff’s deputy has been fired after being tied to a child sex exploitation investigation. Investigators received information about inappropriate text messages involving a juvenile, and determined a deputy was alleged to be involved. ow.ly/hDWd6 From Police Misconduct.Net

A police officer is scheduled to appear in court on allegations he

•Maplewood, Minnesota: A police officer is scheduled to appear in court on allegations he provided alcohol to juvenile girls at his home. He has been reinstated to active duty, but will not interact with the public until the incident is resolved. http://ow.ly/hEaTT From Police Misconduct.Net

A police officer has been arrested after state police say he had an inappropriate relationship

•Rushville, Indiana: A police officer has been arrested after state police say he had an inappropriate relationship with a teenage girl. According to court documents, he sent the 15-year-old girl messages on Facebook and via text.http://ow.ly/hE8qB From Police Misconduct.Net

A police officer accused of sexually assaulting a teenager

•Rindge, New Hampshire: A police officer accused of sexually assaulting a teenager is slated to plead guilty to lesser charges. He allegedly engaged in sex acts with a girl he knew between the age of 13 and 16, according to court documents. http://ow.ly/hyoYx From Police Misconduct.

An officer charged with assaulting his 9-year-old twin daughters

•Weymouth, Massachusetts: An officer charged with assaulting his 9-year-old twin daughters has resigned. They told other officers he pushed them and warned them not to tell anyone because no one would believe them, according to a police report on file. http://ow.ly/hyps7 From Police Misconduct.

Minneapolis police officer charged with sex abuse of a child

MINNEAPOLIS – A Minneapolis police officer has been charged with sexually assaulting teen girls he met on social media sites. Bradley James Schnickel, 32, was charged Friday with three counts of attempted or actual third-degree sexual conduct and three counts of engaging in sexually explicit online chats with a minor. The charges carry a maximum prison sentence of 46 1/2 years. Anoka County prosecutors said Schnickel had online chats with four girls who were 13 or 14, in which he described wanting to engage in sexual activity. The criminal complaint says he had physical contact with some of them. A phone message left with his defense attorney was not returned. The Minneapolis Police Department has placed Schnickel, a five-year veteran, on administrative leave.

Assault on kids and the growing problem of mentally unstable cops

Lake County, Illinois: A deputy who tracked predators is being investigated. He allegedly had sexual contact with a teenage boy. He has been placed on paid administrative leave.  http://ow.ly/hoIja

Macon, Georgia: A police cop pleaded guilty to violating his oath of cop and was sentenced to five years probation. He was on duty when he drove a 20-year-old to an inn, where he had sex with her. http://ow.ly/hoZPa

Ahoskie, North Carolina: A police cop was arrested and charged with raping a teenager. Cop Andreas Snape was charged with more than 20 counts. Snape was fired. ow.ly/hlqKV

New York, New York: The family of a 7-year-old New York boy is suing police and the city for $250 million, saying cops handcuffed and interrogated the boy for ten hours after a scuffle over lunch money at school. ow.ly/hlq1x

Eighth Grader Executed for Scaring a Cop

by William Grigg,

 Between March 2006 and November 2010, Officer Daniel Alvarado of San Antonio’s Northside Independent School District Police was suspended four times. Four times he was informed by supervisors that he faced “immediate termination.” For some reason, when it came time to fire Alvarado, his superiors just couldn’t bring themselves to pull the trigger. Alvarado displayed no similar scruples on November 12, 2010, when he murdered 14-year-old Derek Lopez, who had just taken part in a brief scuffle with another student.

Owing to his own troubled past, Lopez was a student at the Bexar County Juvenile Justice Academy. At around 4:30 PM on the fatal day, Lopez sucker-punched a 13-year-old classmate at a bus stop.

“He just hit me once,” the student later recalled in a sworn deposition. “It wasn’t a fight. It was nothing.”

Unfortunately, Alvarado happened to be prowling the intersection in his patrol car, and witnessed the trivial dust-up.

“Freeze!” Alvarado shouted at Lopez, who bolted from the scene. Alvarado, in his mid-40s, briefly gave token pursuit before relating the first of several self-serving falsehoods.

“I just had one run from me,” wheezed the winded tax-feeder. “I saw an assault in progress. He punched the guy several times.”

A supervisor instructed Alvarado “not [to] do any big search over there” in pursuit of the assailant. “Let’s stay with the victim and see if we can identify [the suspect] that way.”

Rather than doing as he was ordered, Alvarado bundled the “victim” — who was probably more terrified of the armed functionary than of his obnoxious classmate — into the patrol car and went in pursuit of Lopez.

Lopez vaulted a nearby fence and hid in a backyard shed containing Christmas decorations. The homeowner saw the intrusion, and a neighbor flagged down Alvarado’s patrol car. The officer drew his gun “when he came up the driveway,” recalled the homeowner. Within a minute or so, a single gunshot resonated through the neighborhood. When asked by the horrified homeowner what had happened, Alvarado — who reportedly looked “dazed or distant” — replied that Lopez “came at me.”

“The suspect bull rushed his way out of the shed and lunged right at me,” the timorous creature later claimed in an official report. “The suspect was literally inches away from me, and I feared for my own safety.”

Alvarado was lying, of course. An autopsy revealed “no evidence of close range firing [on] the wound,” and no gunpowder stains were found on the victim’s bloody t-shirt.

By this time, the boy who had taken the punch at the bus stop had called his mother via cell phone. She arrived shortly after Alvarado had gunned down Lopez.

“At one point, the mother told a witness, `He shot him? Why did he shoot him? He didn’t have to shoot him,” reports the San Antonio News-Express.

Alvarado, who four times was on the cusp of being fired for insubordination, disobeyed a direct order on November 12. He falsified key details of the shooting in his official report. A 14-year-old boy was gunned down execution-style for the venial offense of engaging in an adolescent scuffle, and for compelling an overweight middle-aged badge-polisher to run a few hundred yards. According to the San Antonio Police Department, this is all perfectly acceptable: The department ruled that the murder of Derek Lopez was a “justified” shooting.

Although he’s been removed from patrol duty, Alvarado remains on the force, albeit in a tax-subsidized sinecure. Although he had repeatedly been threatened with termination for sloppiness or defiance in carrying out administrative duties, Alvarado faces neither criminal prosecution nor professional censure for murdering a 14-year-old boy. Apparently, insubordination in carrying out office functions is a much graver matter than insubordination that results in the needless death of an adolescent Mundane.

Despite the fact that this incident involved two teenage boys who attended a special school for troubled juveniles, parents should understand that students in practically any government-run “educational” institution can fall prey to sudden — and potentially lethal — police violence.

“Every day in communities across the United States, children and adolescents spend the majority of their waking hours in schools that increasingly have come to resemble places of detention more than places of learning,” observes investigative reporter Annette Fuentes in her infuriating and valuable new book Lockdown High: When the Schoolhouse Becomes a Jailhouse. Federally subsidized “zero tolerance” policies growing out of the “War on Drugs” have created what Fuentes and other critics of the system call the “school-to-prison pipeline”: “If yesterday’s prank got a slap on the wrist, today those wrists could be slapped with handcuffs.”

As the case of Derek Lopez illustrates, a childish prank could be treated as a capital offense, with summary execution carried out by a corrupt cop who doesn’t have to endure so much as a slap on the wrist.

Minneapolis cop charged with assaulting teen girls

A Minneapolis cop used the Internet to prey on at least four girls, telling one 14-year-old that he “likes girls your age,” according to a criminal complaint filed today.

Bradley James Schnickel, 32, plied a 13-year-old girl with vodka last year and had sex with her in his car, the complaint said. He persuaded another girl to send a pair of nude pictures of herself, after which he drove to her apartment and masturbated in front of her in his car, the complaint said.

Schnickel, arrested Wednesday, was charged with three counts of attempted or actual third-degree sexual conduct and three counts of engaging in sexually explicit online chats with a minor. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 46½ years in prison and a $105,000 fine.

Police spokesman Stephen McCarty said Schnickel, a five-year veteran of the Minneapolis Police Department, no longer was employed as of today.

“As far as whether he was fired or resigned, that's not being disclosed,” McCarty said. “There's a union process that has to be fulfilled first.”

Schnickel's defense attorney, Fred Bruno, was traveling today and did not immediately return a phone message or email seeking comment. A message was also left at Schnickel's home in Andover.

Authorities began investigating about three weeks ago after Brooklyn Center police learned a then-unidentified Andover man had used social media to send inappropriate messages to a girl.

Schnickel didn't know the girls when he initiated contact through chat websites, nor did he tell them he was a cop, Anoka County Sheriff's Cmdr. Paul Sommer said. Schnickel reached out to a number of girls, and then used their lists of contacts to strike up conversations with their friends, Sommer said.

In one case, a girl who is now 14 told investigators she began chatting last summer with someone named “Brady” who said he was 22. She said the chats turned sexual, and three months later, she sneaked out of her home to meet the man. She said they drove for a while, and then Schnickel got her drunk on vodka and had sex with her.

Another alleged victim said Schnickel sent her 15 pictures of his genitals and asked for sex at least 50 times. She said she never met him until he suddenly appeared at her bus stop a few months later, asking what police were inquiring about and telling her to “deny, deny, deny everything.”

Schnickel told another girl through Facebook chats he was 23 years old, the complaint said.

One alleged victim “kept telling the defendant that she was only 14 and the defendant responded by saying he ‘likes girls your age,’ ” according to the complaint. The victim said Schnikel told her he liked girls as young as 12 and that he wanted to take her virginity.

He asked her “for sex so many times she can't put a number on it,” the complaint said.

A judge set bail today for Schnickel at $500,000 with no conditions of release, or $250,000 with the condition that he not contact any girls, according to the Anoka County Attorney's Office. He is scheduled to be arraigned March 6.

Authorities have reviewed about 3,000 pages of the 9,000 pages of documentation in the case. Investigators continued to comb through the rest of the documents and said more charges could be forthcoming.

“This case remains wide open,” Paul Young, the assistant Anoka County Attorney, said.

Schnickel could also face charges in Hennepin County.

Chuck Laszewski, a spokesman for the Hennepin County Attorney's office, said prosecutors there had received a file on Schnickel and were asked to investigate further. He said he didn't know how many alleged victims were described in that file.

Foster home wants more information from NYPD about teen allegedly shot dead by off-duty detective

The foster home of a teenager who was blown away by an off-duty detective during an alleged robbery wants to haul NYPD brass to court to learn more details about that deadly shooting.

The nonprofit agency Graham Windham, legal guardian of 17-year-old Antawin White, filed a civil petition yesterday in Manhattan Supreme Court, demanding more answers about the teen’s death.

White and a 15-year-old friend approached the detective on Jan. 30 last year in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn and tried to rob him, police said.

White allegedly struck the cop in the face with a cane, while his accomplice simulated that he had a gun, officials said. That’s when the detective pulled his weapon and fatally shot White once in the chest, according to police.

Nonprofit Graham Windham said the NYPD has repeatedly ignored Freedom of Information Law requests for information, citing an "ongoing criminal investigation."

The agency is skeptical of the official NYPD account.

"This portrait of a violent menace did not comport with the Antawin White that Graham Windham knew,” according to the complaint. “And it stood in stark contrast to the Antawin White whom those who grew up with, taught and lived with him knew."

Cops can produce reports by blacking out names of witnesses, the agency said.

"Graham Windham respectfully requests that this court order the NYPD to produce appropriately redacted documents concerning Antawin White's death,” according to the complaint.

"In its capacity as legal guardian, and de facto parent, Graham Windham sought information about the shooting by way of FOIL request to the NYPD. It received no information in response to its FOIL request."

The agency said its staff was devastated by White's untimely death: "In the early morning hours of January 31, 2012 two Graham Windham employees identified his body at the coroner's office — a third employee was too overcome with grief to do so."

A lawyer for the NYPD or city could not be immediately reached for comment this morning.

Cop gets life sentence for St. Johns child molesting

A former Vero Beach cop was sentenced to life in prison on three counts of lewd or lascivious sexual battery Tuesday by St. Johns County Circuit Court Judge Terry LaRue.

St. Augustine businessman James Scharfschwerdt, 55, was convicted Dec. 11 on the charges involving a victim who is now a senior in high school.

The victim said Scharfschwerdt won his trust as a 14-year-old and took advantage of it. Due to a recent court ruling, prosecutors were allowed to present testimony from the accuser in this case as well as three other men. Ranging in age from 18 to 37, they talked about similar sexual encounters with Scharfschwerdt when they were minors.

Scharfschwerdt was also an Indian River County sheriff’s deputy.

Minneapolis Cop Arrested In Child Sex Case

The Anoka County Sheriff's Office arrested the 32-year-old Andover man Wednesday and booked him on a possible charge of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with someone under age 13.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A Minneapolis cop has been arrested in the alleged sexual abuse of a child.

The Anoka County Sheriff's Office arrested the 32-year-old Andover man Wednesday and booked him on a possible charge of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with someone under age 13. He was still in custody Thursday and hadn't been formally charged.

Sheriff's officials say authorities in Brooklyn Center contacted them after they learned an Andover man had used social media to send inappropriate messages to a girl.

Authorities say the investigation identified multiple possible victims. The allegations include sexual contact with penetration.

Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau ordered an internal investigation and placed the officer on administrative leave. Harteau says if the allegations are true, they are horrific and against the department's values.