A Baltimore City police
sergeant was arrested Wednesday night in sting in Baltimore County.
Charles William Hagee, 44, of
Columbia, was arrested Wednesday morning at Baltimore police headquarters and
charged with third- and fourth-degree sexual offense and sexual solicitation of
a minor.
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Howard County police said the
charges stem from a tip regarding the prostitution of a 14-year-old girl in
Columbia.
Detectives said they believe
Hagee contacted the girl through a phone number posted to an online
prostitution advertisement. Police believe the two exchanged text messages
before meeting at his Columbia home and engaging in sexual activity on three
separate occasions between January and May 2013.
Police said Hagee posted bail,
which was set at $75,000, on Wednesday and was released from jail.
The Baltimore Police Department
has confirmed Hagee is a 19-year veteran assigned to the Special Enforcement
Section. He has been suspended without pay.
Police have not yet released a
photo of Hagee.
"It's sickening, it really
is," said neighbor Paul Reitmeyer, who never suspected something like that
from the man known as the cop in the neighborhood. He said Hagee mostly kept to
himself.
"He helped me out. We had
been robbed a couple of months back, and he was helpful to tell us, 'Hey, I saw
some people in the neighborhood,'" Reitmeyer said.
"That scares me, too,
because my daughter, she has the latest iPhone and her laptop and all in her room,
so that just kind of makes me think that I need to watch out a little more to
see what's going on," said neighbor Jamie Palermo. "Just the idea of a police officer or a
man or anybody in general doing this to children just kind of makes you
sick."
Howard County detectives are
trying to find out if there are more victims in the case. Police encourage
anyone else who may have been a victim of Hagee's to contact them at
410-313-2630.
Hagee's arrest came a month
after the arrest of one of his coworkers, Kevin Simmons, 40, who police said
offered an undercover Baltimore County detective money for sex.