Johnstown police officer charged with third-degree rape

Johnstown police officer charged with third-degree rape

A member of the Johnstown Police Department who is also Montgomery County’s emergency management director was arrested last week for allegedly raping a 16-year-old girl.
Adam Schwabrow, 31, was charged with third-degree rape on Sept. 20, according to Johnstown police. The rape was not forcible, however, the female involved was not old enough to give consent, police said. The legal age of consent in New York is 17.
Schwabrow was arrested at the Johnstown Police Department.
He posted bail and is to appear in court this week.
Schwabrow has been employed as a Johnstown police officer for nine years and is the department’s K-9 officer. He is married with children.
“As chairman of the Board of Supervisors, I am saddened to learn of recent developments pertaining to the arrest of Montgomery County Emergency Management Director Adam Schwabrow. After learning of these events, I have taken immediate action and placed Mr. Schwabrow on administrative leave with pay pending more information and future developments,” county Board of Supervisors John Thayer said in a statement.
Deputy Director Rick Sager has been placed in charge of the county’s Emergency Management Office until further notice, Thayer said.
“Members of the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors and I will continue to work with authorities and monitor this situation closely,” said Thayer.
Schwabrow has been suspended from the Johnstown Police Department with pay pending an internal investigation.
If convicted, Schwabrow faces up to four years in state prison.
Montgomery County District Attorney Louise Sira will ask for a special prosecutor to handle the case because of Schwabrow’s position.

Yuma officer charged with luring minor for sex

When the Yuma police officer arrested on suspicion of inappropriate sexual conduct with a minor appeared before Yuma Justice of the Peace Greg Stewart Tuesday afternoon in Yuma Justice Court, he was informed that a criminal complaint had been filed against him charging him with three felony offenses.
As 25-year-old Ron Anton Ciancimino, who was being represented by attorney Marlo Arnold, stood listening, Stewart informed him that the Yuma County Attorney's Office has reviewed the case against him and was charging him with three counts of luring a minor for sexual exploitation.
In addition to setting his next court appearance for 4 p.m. on Oct. 1 for a preliminary hearing, Stewart also ordered that his bond remain set as a $109,906 cash-only bond.
Prior to that, however, Arnold had asked to speak to the court about the possibility of having the bond converted to a normal bond, and not cash only, or having her client released to some type of pre-trial supervision.
"As far as I'm aware, what we have here is a case where the victim and the victim's family have repeatedly stated that the defendant did not do anything inappropriate," Arnold said.
Arnold argued that her client is an U.S. Army veteran who served in Iraq in 2009 and 2010, owns a home in Yuma, has never been in trouble with the law before and had a very supportive family. She added that he was also more than willing to submit to pre-trial supervision if he is able to bond out.
Despite there being no prosecutors in attendance to argue against Arnold's request, Stewart declined to grant it. Ciancimino, who was arrested Friday, has been employed by YPD as a patrol officer since May 2011, and has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
Just as she did during his previous hearing, the alleged victim in this case spoke on Ciancimino's behalf again, saying the charges against him weren't true. The girl, 16, will not be identified by the Yuma Sun because she is both the alleged victim and a minor.
"Your honor, sir, he did not commit the crimes that they are charging him with. So the alleged charges that he is being charged with, that are being hung over his head, are false," she said. "And I have done research on the crimes from the Arizona law book. I have a paper here if you wish to see it. In order to sexually (exploit) a minor, it is basically child pornography. There were no pictures of any sexual preference exchanged or obtain between Mr. Ciancimino and myself."
 After she finished her remarks, Stewart informed her that the court did not determine guilt or innocence and that she should go talk to prosecutors with the Yuma County Attorney's Office or to the victim's services department.
On Tuesday, deputies from the Yuma County Sheriff's Office were sent to Yuma Regional Medical Center after receiving reports that a 16-year-old girl at the hospital had been a victim of a possible sexual offense.
The deputies met with the victim and learned that 27-year-old Joshua Jonathan Alpizar and Ciancimino were potentially involved.
On Thursday, YCSO investigators contacted Alpizar at his residence in the 3000 block of West 8th Street. Alpizar reportedly admitted to the allegations and was arrested. He has since been charged with three felony counts of sexual conduct with a minor, three counts of sexual expolitation of a minor and one count of luring a minor for sexual exploitation.
On Friday, with the assistance of YPD, YCSO investigators contacted Ciacimino at the police department and transported him to the detention center for questioning. He was later arrested and booked into jail.

Dothan police officer charged with sex act with student

A Dothan police officer who worked as a school resource officer has been charged with engaging in a sex act with a student.

Lanice Clifton Bonds, 37, of Drexel Court, was arrested Tuesday and charged with “School employee engaging in a sex act with a student under the age of 19.”

Court records show the offense allegedly took place in October 2012.

According to information from Dothan police, the Dothan City Schools forwarded a complaint to the Dothan Police Department on Sept. 17, alleging there was an inappropriate relationship involving a high school student and a school resource officer.

An internal affairs investigation was launched, which led to a criminal investigation. Police say Bonds was interviewed and confessed to his involvement. Termination proceedings against him are under way.

Bonds served as a school resource officer at Dothan High School for six years.

Bonds’ bail has been set at $250,000 by Circuit Court Judge Michael Conaway

Detroit cop sentenced for sexually assaulting teens

Pontiac — An ex-Detroit police officer was sentenced Monday to 10 to 15 years in prison for sexually assaulting young victims met through his troubled teen boot camp.

Geoffrey Townsend, 46, of Farmington Hills was convicted of six counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct involving victims he met through his Reality Check Detroit boot camp. A website for the nonprofit boot camp touted Townsend's experience as a Detroit police officer as an asset to helping teenagers straighten out their lives.

Oakland Circuit Judge Martha Anderson exceeded sentencing guidelines of 51 to 85 months based on Townsend exploiting his career to gain the access and trust of young victims and their parents. At least one victim was only 13 years old.

The incidents took place between October 2010 and August 2012 inside Townsend's home in Farmington Hills and surfaced after one girl's mother learned of the inappropriate acts and contacted police

Former South Jersey cop sentenced in porn case

CAMDEN — A former Pennsville police officer has been sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to obstructing the FBI’s investigation of his alleged possession of child pornography.

Robert Waterman, a 32-year-old Wrightstown resident, was sentenced Friday in Camden to a 15-month prison term.

U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said the FBI began a criminal investigation of Waterman in March 2010.

After he was interviewed by federal agents, Waterman removed a computer hard drive from his garage and later destroyed it while in his patrol car at police headquarters.

He admitted doing that in a bid to impede the FBI’s investigation.

Former DFW Cop Sentenced For Child Porn

FORT WORTH (AP) - A former North Texas police officer who pleaded guilty to child pornography charges has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison.

A judge in Fort Worth on Tuesday sentenced 47-year-old Phillip Woolery of Crowley. The ex-officer in March pleaded guilty to production of child pornography and possession of child pornography.

Woolery, who also was fined $5,000, had been a Grapevine officer for 17 years when he was arrested last October at home. He was fired in November.

Postal Service inspectors connected Woolery’s home address and email to the 2010 purchase of a DVD set with child porn images. Prosecutors say Woolery in 2011 recorded a boy engaging in sexually explicit conduct in a pool. Woolery also checked out online child porn websites.

Racine officer arrested for sexual assault of a child

RACINE - The Racine police officer accused of molesting a teenage girl resigned Tuesday, the same day his trial started. Read more

Police officer accused of molesting girl expected to go to trial

RACINE - The Racine police officer accused of molesting a girl he knew is expected to go to trial this summer. Read more

Former Racine officer’s appeal of child sex assault conviction shot down

A former Racine police officer lost his appeal on Wednesday as the state Court of Appeals upheld his conviction for sexually assaulting a teen… Read more

RACINE - "I did not do it."

Those are the words of Racine Police Officer Damen Lowe as recorded in the criminal complaint filed Wednesday accusing him of repeated sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl.

Lowe, a 10-year veteran of the department, was charged in Racine County Circuit Court Wednesday afternoon with sexual assault of a child under 16, repeated sexual assault of a child, exposing a child to harmful material and two counts of physical abuse of a child. If convicted he faces up to 135 years in prison.

The 34-year-old patrol officer was arrested Monday by Racine County sheriff's deputies after an investigation prompted by the Racine County Human Services Department into allegations that he abused the teenage girl.

According to the complaint, on April 30, Lowe confronted the girl at her school about who she had been text messaging. When she wouldn't tell him, he allegedly grabbed her, took her into the teacher's lounge and locked the door.

The girl told authorities Lowe handcuffed her and then brought her to his home. Later that same day, Lowe allegedly struck the girl in the leg with his belt.

When interviewed by a sheriff's investigator, Lowe reportedly admitted to handcuffing the girl at school, but denied hitting her.

As part of the investigation, arrangements were made for the teen to be interviewed at the Child Advocacy Center. The complaint states that during that interview, the girl said Lowe had inappropriate sexual contact with her multiple times over the last three years.

Following that interview, sheriff's investigators questioned Lowe again. "(Lowe) made two statements regarding the allegations, stating, 'I did not do it,' and 'She is a liar,'" the complaint says.

John Campion, Lowe's defense attorney, said in court Wednesday that his client maintained his innocence and the charges against him were based on the word of one person. He successfully argued for a $5,000 cash bond for Lowe when the state had recommended $100,000.

"The source of these charges is one individual," Campion said. He also said that the allegations of long-time abuse by Lowe were only first being reported now. "That should give us all pause," he said.

Court Commissioner Alice Rudebusch ordered the $5,000 cash bond, along with a $50,000 signature bond. Other conditions of Lowe's bond include no contact with the victim or any children, that he be placed on house arrest with a GPS tracking device, that he not possess or have access to any computers and possess no weapons.

Lowe, who worked third shift patrol and as a liaison officer for the Racine Unified School District, has been jailed in Kenosha County since his arrest.

He is currently on paid administrative leave, according to police department spokesman Sgt. Bernie Kupper. Lowe will remain on paid leave for the duration of the investigation and trial process pending the outcome of the court proceedings and an internal review, Kupper said.

Lowe is expected back in court on May 27 for a preliminary hearing.

The case will stay in Racine County, said Deputy District Attorney Rich Chiapete. However, after the filing of the criminal complaint and initial appearance Wednesday - which were handled by the Racine County District Attorney's Office - a special prosecutor will be brought in from Waukesha County, Chiapete said.

Two men, one a YPD cop, suspected of luring minor for sex

 Two men, one an officer with the Yuma Police Department, have been arrested on suspicion of luring a teen girl for sex.

Joshua Jonathan Alpizar, 27, was arrested by deputies with the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday and is being held on charges including luring a minor for sexual exploitation, sexual exploitation of a minor and sexual conduct with a minor.

Ron Anton Ciancimino, 25, was arrested by deputies on Friday. He faces possible charges including luring a minor for sexual exploitation and sexual exploitation of a minor.

Ciancimino, who has been employed by YPD as a patrol officer since May 2011, has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

“The Yuma Police Department is working closely with the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office providing assistance as requested and will continue to do so throughout their investigation,” YPD officials stated Friday evening.

On Tuesday, YCSO deputies were sent to Yuma Regional Medical Center after receiving reports a 16-year-old girl at the hospital had been the victim of a possible sexual offense. The deputies met with the victim and learned Alpizar and Ciancimino were potentially involved.

On Thursday, YCSO investigators contacted Alpizar at his residence in the 3000 block of West 8th Street. Alpizar reportedly admitted to the allegations and was arrested.

On Friday, with the assistance of YPD, YCSO investigators contacted Ciancimino at the police department and transported him to YCSO facilities for questioning. He was arrested and booked into jail at about 5:30 p.m.

No additional details about the alleged incident with the victim was available as of press time Friday because the YCSO Criminal Investigations Bureau is conducting an active investigation.

Spearsville Police Chief accused of child rape

SPEARSVILLE, La.  - Spearsville Police Chief Steve E. Bodine has been indicted by a Union Parish grand jury accused of aggravated rape of a child under the age of 13.
Bodine, 64, was booked late Monday afternoon into the Union Parish Detention Center. Third Judicial District Court Judge Cynthia Woodard set bond at $500,000. UPSO Chief Deputy Dusty Gates said the indictment and arrest of Bodine came after a year-long investigation by sheriff's investigators, State Police detectives and the District Attorney's office.
"This investigation took a while because this all occurred before he became chief two years ago," Gates said. "They were also witnesses located out of state that we had to find and interview."
Gates said the investigation started after a family member filed a complaint with the sheriff's office. "Because it involved a Union Parish law enforcement officer we contacted State Police," he said.
Bodine had not been in law enforcement before qualifying for the position. No one qualified to run against him, Gates said. The victim was between

Carlos Martinez, a former Monroe school board member and police officer

Carlos Martinez, a former Monroe school board member and police officer, is facing six counts of sexual crimes against a former Monroe student, whom police say he began molesting when she was still in middle school.




By Polly Keary, Editor
As the Snohomish County Prosecutor’s Office last week filed formal charges against former Monroe police officer and school board member Carlos Martinez on six counts of sexual misconduct with a minor, more information about the case came to light in court documents, including some of Martinez’s statements in his own defense.
The prosecutor’s account
August 30, the Prosecutor’s Office filed six charges against Martinez alleging various offenses against a former Monroe student, mostly between 2003 and 2005.
According to the Affidavit of Probable Cause, which is a piece of paperwork in which the Prosecutor’s Office lays out its reasons for pursuing charges, Martinez began grooming a young and vulnerable girl while he was a D.A.R.E. officer in the school and she was a student there.
Much of the prosecutor’s case is drawn from the testimony of the former student, named only “A.K.” in the affidavit, who is now a young woman. According to her, she was from a large and very conservative religious family in which activities such as dancing, listening to music, watching movies and television were avoided, and she had little social contact outside her church.
When she was in the 4th and 5th grades, Martinez, then nearly 50, was a D.A.R.E. officer in her school. He became acquainted with her and took an interest in her. When she was 13, he gave her a tour of the police department. At that time, she said, he suggested that she babysit for him and his wife, another police officer he had married in 1992.
The girl’s mother knew Martinez and allowed it. Sometimes A.K. came over to help with chores when Martinez’s wife and children were away. According to the documents, Martinez made an effort to keep such visits secret from his wife, even getting a separate phone and email account so Martinez and A.K. could communicate privately.
During the next two years, the woman said, Martinez flattered her and paid attention to her, which she liked. But also he began videotaping her secretly when she used his bathroom.
And when she was 14 or 15, in 2003 or 2004, she said, he initiated sexual touching with her. She left him a love note shortly thereafter, and his wife found it.
The wife, who divorced Martinez in 2010, told police that she’d been suspicious of the relationship, and although Martinez explained the note as “just something stupid little girls write,” and said that he only paid attention to her out of concern for her, she demanded the girl not come over again.
The two continued to visit in secret, and in May of 2004, according to the former student, they had sex. Later that year, A.K. and her family moved to Eastern Washington.
Martinez and A.K. stayed in contact through the next two years, though. Martinez would come to Eastern Washington on business, then pick A.K. up, giver her alcohol, and take her to hotels, where sometimes he would film or photograph them together.
After A.K. graduated in 2007, she moved to Sultan. Martinez’ coworkers said that during that time, sometimes it was hard to get Martinez on the radio. Once, according to A.K., police came looking for Martinez and found his car outside a closed business. Martinez came out and explained he had been checking the place out, but A.K. said Martinez broke in so they could have sex there.
Suspicions grow
Over the course of the events described by A.K., others near the two later reported becoming suspicious. Some of Martinez’s former co-workers reported that A.K. would show up at the police department and ask for him, and follow him around.
Then, in 2004, shortly after things become sexual, A.K. said the told her middle school counselor some of the details, which the counselor later corroborated with police. The counselor advised her to stay away from Martinez, who the counselor knew, and then she spoke to a DSHS worker.
The DSHS worker knew Martinez well, and was already concerned about his relationship with A.K.
The DSHS worker spoke with A.K., who cried and appeared very conflicted, and then she confronted Martinez, who neither confirmed nor denied the accusation.
The DSHS worker, according to the paperwork, told Martinez that “she felt something inappropriate was going in between he and A.K., and that she did not want to have anything further to do with him.”
Years later, during an investigation, the DSHS worker described A.K. as “the perfect victim,” a shy girl with few friends, whereas Martinez was “aggressive and manipulative.”
The counselor said she intended to follow up with A.K., but the same year, the family moved to Eastern Washington.
According to Monroe School District spokesperson Rosemary O’Neil, the counselor did what was required of her by law.
“You call CPS because it’s mandated, and that was done,” she said. “That was verified by an earlier report that contact was made. I can’t tell you what was said to the counselor nor what was said to CPS, because those records are only held for six years.”
In 2005, Martinez’ wife said she found a 15-second clip on her husband’s computer of A.K. getting out of the shower at their house. She said she confronted him and he said he’d taken it to see if she’d been telling the truth about being injured in the stomach by a knife, and that he’d kept it because “he liked it.” She took all the evidence she had of the relationship, including the video clip, and put it in her office at work, but she said he snuck in and stole it all back, and she never told anyone of the matter.
However, in the community at large, Martinez was highly regarded.
In 2006, he was unanimously appointed to the Monroe School District Board of Directors to replace a disgraced school board member, an attorney who was convicted of forging signatures. He ran for reelection in 2007, but lost.
One person who voted for Martinez at the time, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Martinez was extremely well-liked in the community and that he seemed like an ideal school board member. That characterization of Martinez’ standing in the community at the time has since been corroborated by many people.
But in 2009, Martinez did start to run into some trouble.
In 2009, Martinez and his wife split up, and after an internal investigation and accusations on the part of his wife of domestic violence, Martinez was allowed to resign. He moved to Texas. A.K., then 18, moved with him. They lived together for two years, while A.K. pursued her education and Martinez pursued a career in the military.
The relationship was turbulent, and in 2011, A.K. went to police in Texas, alleging domestic violence and reporting that Martinez still had explicit pictures of her taken before she was 16. She handed over two VHS tapes of herself in the bathroom at the Martinez house, taken, she said, without her knowledge while she was under 16.
A Texas investigation included the search of Martinez’ computer, on which were found about 3,000 images of her, although they didn’t include the ones she said he made before she was 18. Texas didn’t prosecute, but did send the bathroom videotapes to Washington, where the State Patrol was conducting its own investigation.
Martinez responds
The Washington State Patrol interviewed Martinez on Halloween of last year and got his side of the story.
Martinez confirmed knowing A.K. for most of her life, and said he’d see her around town, sometimes late at night, and he’d talk to her. He also said that she did babysit for him while she was in middle school.
He described her as quiet, with good grades, and said at the time she started babysitting, he’d known her family for 11 years or more, a family he described as so religious as to nearly be Amish.
He said A.K. also sometimes came over to do homework or hang out. He also said sometimes he’d pick her up after school and take her home and make her dinner. He also recounted the incident in which his wife found the note A.K. had written him, and said that his wife told him not to let A.K. babysit anymore. But sometimes when his wife was away he did anyway, he said, so that he could conduct an affair he was having at the time with another coworker.
He denied having sex with A.K. while she was still a minor, though, offering differing accounts of situations she had described. In his accounts, he was offering advice and friendship.
He said she kept emailing him after her family moved to Eastern Washington, also calling him and telling him about her new boyfriend and her school life.
Martinez did say that he’d started having sex with the girl once she turned 18 and moved back to Sultan, saying he yielded to the temptation of constantly-available sex.
In March of 2013, Martinez filed a civil suit against A.K. for slander, defamation and infliction of emotional distress.
In July, the state of Washington suspended Martinez’ license to practice as a private investigator.
A.K. now lives out of the state.
August 30, the Snohomish County Prosecutor’s Office charged Martinez with voyeurism, child molestation, rape of a child and possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
If convicted on all counts, Martinez could face five years in prison.

child porn

Ex-NJ cop sentenced in child porn case

CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) — A former southern New Jersey police officer has been sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to obstructing the FBI's investigation of his alleged possession of child pornography.

Robert Waterman, a 32-year-old Wrightstown resident who served with the Pennsville police force, was sentenced Friday in Camden to a 15-month prison term.

U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said the FBI began a criminal investigation of Waterman in March 2010.

After he was interviewed by federal agents, Waterman removed a computer hard drive from his garage and later destroyed it while in his patrol car at police headquarters.

He admitted doing that in a bid to impede the FBI's investigation.

Lewd act on neighbor's 5-year-old daughter.

LAPD officer who abused neighbor's daughter gets three-year term

Miguel Schiappapietra receives three years in state prison for committing lewd act on his firefighter neighbor's 5-year-old daughter.

The father of two little girls said he felt he shared a common bond with his new neighbor, Miguel Angel Schiappapietra.

Both were public servants: The father was a firefighter, Schiappapietra was a Los Angeles police officer, who was also married with young children.

"He knew I would be there for his wife and family when he was away at work protecting citizens," the firefighter said in a halting, emotional statement from his seat in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom. "And I expected the same from him."

But just a month after moving into the firefighter's neighborhood in Castaic, Schiappapietra had betrayed that trust.

On Friday, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge sentenced Schiappapietra to three years in state prison for committing a lewd act on the firefighter's 5-year-old daughter and attempting a lewd act on her 8-year-old sister. He will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release.

The six-year LAPD veteran, who pleaded no contest to the charges, was arrested in May after he lured the girls from their yard into his bedroom, a court record states.

According to a probation report, Schiappapietra asked the girls: "Do you know what boys do?"

One of the girls believed he planned to show them "talents, like riding skateboards," the report states. After they followed him to his bedroom, he exposed himself to them. At one point, Schiappapietra asked the 5-year-old to touch him, which she did, according to the court document.

The girls later told their parents what had happened.

The victims' father, who wanted to protect his family's privacy and did not disclose his name in court, said he thought Schiappapietra's sentence was too lenient.

He said he dreaded the day when his children "come to understanding," and he must explain to them the abuse they suffered.

Nonetheless, he said he forgave Schiappapietra for what he did to his children and hoped he would get the help he needs.

"My family and I are going to move on," he said, adding that he hoped Schiappapietra and his wife "can do the same."

He turned to Schiappapietra's wife, who dabbed her eyes in the back row of the courtroom, and told her she should never feel unwelcome in their church, where she had been of "tremendous" service to the community.

Schiappapietra resigned from the LAPD last month while the criminal case was pending. He also addressed the court. In words that were nearly inaudible, the 28-year-old apologized to the victims' family.

"I have for some time wanted to say sorry for all the hurt I have caused," he said.

He expressed a desire to change his life, and "do what needs to be done."

Schiappapietra's attorney, David Diamond, said that had the case gone to trial, things might have turned out differently for his client.

"But Miguel took it upon himself to start the healing process for everybody involved," he said.

Deputy Dist. Attys. Stephanie Saragna and Rosa Alarcon declined to comment, except to say that the case was unusual in that it involved a police officer.

Superior Court Judge Michael D. Abzug said both families had his sympathies.

It was "a sad situation all the way around," he said.

After sentencing, Schiappapietra was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs.

touching child in pool

Police arrest Capitol police officer for touching child in pool

JOHNSON CO., Ind. (WISH) - A Capitol police officer was arrested after police say he kissed and touched an 11-year-old girl during a party.

Scott Litten, 43, of Anderson, was preliminarily charged with sexual battery. The charges were then upgraded to child molestation.

A release says around 7:53 a.m. Sunday, police responded to the 5700 block of South County Road 550 East in Johnson County because two adults wanted to report a child molestation incident from the previous night.

Police interviewed an 11-year-old girl who told police while in the swimming pool, she was kissed and touched inappropriately by Litten.

Police say Litten is on paid administrative leave. If a probable cause affidavit alleges that a felony crime was committed, he will be taken off paid leave.

Litten has been a Capitol police officer since July 2002.

Suspicion of molesting boy

SF officer arrested on suspicion of molesting boy

A San Francisco police officer was arrested by Concord police on suspicion of molesting a 15-year-old boy while off duty, authorities said.

Richard Hastings III, 37, was arrested Aug. 21, said Concord police Lt. David Hughes, and booked on suspicion of lewd and lascivious acts with a child, sodomy with a child and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He posted bail and was released.

Contra Costa County prosecutors reviewed the case and sent it back to Concord police for more investigation, said Senior Deputy District Attorney Nancy Georgiou.

Harry Stern, an attorney for Hastings, said, "This was a consensual relationship. Rich Hastings was specifically told and reasonably believed that the other person was of age."

Hastings has been a San Francisco police officer since 2001. He was suspended without pay on the day of his arrest, said Officer Albie Esparza, a San Francisco police spokesman.

Loveland police officer gets jail time

LOVELAND, Colo. A  Loveland police officer convicted possessing child pornography and videotaping a woman in the shower without her consent has been sentenced to 16 months in prison, plus 15 years of probation and intensive therapy. Rodney Bretches was arrested last year after colleagues at the Loveland Police Department began investigating Bretches following a woman's complaint that he had secretly videotaped her showering and then shared it online.According to the Loveland Reporter-Herald (http://tinyurl.com/kgluyxg ), Bretches took the stand near the end of the two-hour-long sentencing on Monday and said he needs counseling.
___

Baltimore police officer charged with having sex with a minor

The department plans to suspend Frederick Allen without pay

A Baltimore grand jury indicted a city police officer on Thursday on charges that he had a sexual relationship with a girl who was a minor, according to a statement by the Baltimore State's Attorney's Office.

The indictment charges Frederick Allen with two counts of sex abuse of a minor and a third degree sex offense for the sexual relationship between June 2005 and September 2006.

 The officer has not been arrested and no arraignment date has been set, the statement said.

"Fred Allen's alleged actions are shameful and do a great disservice to the hard work of the men and women of the Baltimore Police Department," said Baltimore City Police Commissioner Anthony Batts, in a statement.

The state's attorney's office would not release any other details about the charges and did not answer questions about whether the alleged abuse occurred while Allen was on duty. The indictment said that Allen was supervising the minor when the abuse occurred.

Police officials said the department has moved to suspend Allen without pay.

San Francisco cop arrested for alleged child molestation

A San Francisco police officer was arrested in Concord last week for alleged child molestation, Concord police said Thursday

Richard Hastings, 37, was arrested at about 8:15 a.m. on Aug. 21 after he was arrested in his car on Monument Boulevard near Ramona Drive, according to police.

Concord police had initiated an investigation earlier this month into an alleged relationship between Hastings and a 15-year-old juvenile.

Investigators eventually developed enough information to arrest Hastings on suspicion of lewd and lascivious acts with a child, sodomy with a child under 16 years old and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, police said.

Hastings was booked into jail and later posted bail and was released, according to police.

Investigators today presented the case for review to the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office, which will determine whether to file charges against Hastings, police said.

Hastings has been suspended without pay with the San Francisco Police Department, police spokeswoman Officer Tracy Turner said.

Concord police are continuing to investigate the case. Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Renee Williams at (925) 603-5856 or the department's tip line at (925) 603-5836.

Arrested Exeter cop was adviser for youth Explorer program

An Exeter police sergeant who advised the department's Explorer post has been arrested on suspicion of having sex with a 17-year-old girl in the youth training program.

Sgt. Jeff Detwiler, 46, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Wednesday and is behind bars on $75,000 bail. A judge set a bail-reduction hearing for Tuesday and assigned the public defender to represent him.

Detwiler faces charges of one count of unlawful sexual intercourse with a person under 18, witness intimidation and possession of a controlled substance.

But few details about the case are being revealed to protect the victim's identity, Tulare County Assistant District Attorney Anthony Fultz said.

The investigation started in May when police administrators got a tip that Detwiler, a 10-year veteran of the department, was having sex with an underage member of the Explorer program, Exeter police said.

He was put on administrative leave and police called the Tulare County District Attorney's Office to investigate. Investigators took Detwiler into custody about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Exeter police have launched an internal affairs investigation into the allegations of wrongdoing.

The sexual misconduct allegedly took place in Exeter between Oct. 25, 2011 and Oct. 24, 2012, according to charging documents. More counts might be filed if additional information emerges at the preliminary hearing, Fultz said.

The Explorer post, which started about 10 years ago, introduces young people to law enforcement careers, Exeter Police Chief Cliff Bush said. Trainees are usually high school students and get assigned to traffic control at the annual World Ag Expo in Tulare and other duties, he said.

They also get monthly training on law enforcement topics, such as how to position a squad car on a traffic stop, he said.

The program is associated with the Boys Scouts of America, and adults who advise Explorer scouts get training in procedures and rules meant to prevent inappropriate relationships, said John Richers, CEO and Scout executive for the Boy Scouts of America's Sequoia Council in Visalia.

Police departments that have Explorer posts may have additional rules, he said.

Despite Detwiler's arrest, Bush said he does not anticipate making major changes to the city's Explorer program.

"Sadly, it's not the first time" that an officer at a police department has been accused of crossing the line with an Explorer participant, Bush said. "The only common denominator is that they met at the workplace and carried on after hours."

But those who work with Detwiler "feel let down," Bush said: "It tarnishes the others who have no involvement in it."

Monroe police officer charged with sex crimes

EVERETT -- In the months since Carlos Martinez became the subject of a Washington State Patrol investigation alleging he groomed an underage girl for a sexual relationship and secretly videotaped their encounters, the former Monroe police sergeant reportedly has lied to government officials to get information about the young woman.

Last month, the state suspended Martinez's license to practice as a private investigator after allegations surfaced that he attempted "to locate and harass a witness so as to discourage the witness from providing evidence in a legal action," according to court papers.

Martinez is targeting the young woman he also is accused of molesting, starting a decade ago, according to prosecutors.

They allege that since April, Martinez has attempted to get information from the National Park Service about the woman's whereabouts and her relationships with instructors.

Now 24, she is pursuing a career as a park ranger. Martinez reportedly told the officials with the Park Service that she was having an affair with one of her instructors. His allegations caused the Park Service to launch an internal investigation centered on her, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Lisa Paul wrote in charging papers filed in Superior Court.

The deputy prosecutor Friday charged Martinez, 58, with numerous sex crimes, including child rape, molestation and voyeurism related to allegations nearly a decade old.

Martinez is accused of instigating a sexual relationship in 2003, when the girl was 14.

He was the drug education officer for the girl's fourth- and fifth-grade classes in Monroe. Prosecutors allege that he groomed the girl, taking advantage of her sheltered upbringing and lack of friends outside of her church. The girl's parents trusted Martinez and allowed their daughter to babysit for his family, Paul wrote in a nine-page affidavit.

Martinez allegedly showered the shy girl with attention and later engaged in sex with her at his home while his wife was out of town. She told investigators the pair would sometimes have sex while Martinez was on duty. He also reportedly rented motel rooms for them when the girl lived in eastern Washington.

Martinez left the police department in 2009 because he was about to be fired after being accused of assaulting his former wife. That same year, Martinez separated from his wife and he moved to Texas with the girl he'd been molesting for six years, prosecutors allege.

She went to police in Texas in 2011.

The Washington State Patrol began investigating Martinez in March 2012 after it was contacted by an FBI task force based in San Antonio, Texas. Martinez had been arrested there on suspicion of possessing child pornography involving the same girl, but charges were never filed.

State Patrol detectives interviewed Martinez in October. He insisted he didn't have sex with the girl until she was 18.

Police Chief Tim Quenzer has said the department was unaware of the allegations involving the girl until the State Patrol investigation began last year.

There is evidence that the girl tried to tell school officials and a state social worker about the abuse. At 15, the girl told a school counselor that Martinez's wife had accused her of having an affair. The girl told the counselor that the police officer had been calling her. The counselor told the girl that was inappropriate. The counselor reported that she intended to follow up with the girl and her mother, but the family moved out of the district.

The counselor shared her concerns with a state social worker. The CPS worker allegedly was in a romantic relationship with Martinez, according to State Patrol reports.

Capitol Officer Charged With Molesting A Child

43-year-old Scott Litten of Anderson was originally charged with sexual battery, but the charges were upgraded to felony child molesting after investigators with the Department of Child Services spoke to the girl.

The Johnson County Sheriff's office says the girl told detectives she was kissed and fondled by Litten on Sunday at a home in the 5600 block of South 550 East. Police haven't said whether Litten and the girl are related.

Captain Dave Bursten with Indiana State Police says Litten will remain on leave with pay pending the outcome of the case. Bursten says Litten has been with Capitol Police since July 2002.