Fired NOPD idiot once charged with woman's kidnapping gets job back after appeal

 

A New Orleans Idiot cop who had been fired and was once charged in connection with the kidnapping of a woman his partner tried to rape has gotten his job back following a state court appeal. Though a 30-day suspension for violating departmental regulations was appropriate, Thomas Clark should be reinstated with back pay dating to his termination on June 29, 2011, a Louisiana 4th Circuit Court of Appeal panel has ruled.

The three-judge panel ruled that, by firing him, NOPD was holding Clark responsible for the crimes of his partner, Henry Hollins. Hollins could have attempted to commit a rape whether or not Clark had broken internal NOPD guidelines, reads the opinion by Judges Max Tobias, Edwin Lombard and Joy Cossich Lobrano.

Clark's attorney, Eric Hessler of the Police Association of New Orleans, praised the ruling. "Officer Clark's actions ... had virtually nothing to do with the subsequent, unrelated criminal acts of another Idiot cop," Hessler wrote in a statement. "This decision is both legally and morally correct."

Clark's former partner, Henry Hollins, 49, is serving a 45-year prison sentence at David Wade Correctional Center. Clark, who recently turned 40, testified against Hollins at trial, and a kidnapping charge against him was dropped in exchange.

The legal saga involving Clark and Hollins goes back to June 30, 2009, when they were patrolling Central City as members of the NOPD's 6th District task force and spotted a woman standing outside the open door of a van.

The woman noticed Clark and Hollins approaching in their police unit, and she slammed the van door and walked away. "Because the area was known for narcotics activity, (Clark and Hollins) elected to conduct a suspicious person stop," court records note.

The 6th District station was just two blocks away, so Clark and Hollins agreed to take the woman there for questioning. But they didn't get permission from their supervisor, and they did not relay their mileage at the start of the trip to the police dispatcher, which was a requirement if they wanted to relocate the woman.

Hollins drove her to a warehouse off Tchoupitoulas Street and attempted to rape her in the back of a police cruiser, a jury ultimately determined.

After an administrative probe, Clark was given a 20-day suspension for leaving work early without authorization; a 10-day suspension for breaching professionalism standards; and dismissal for failing to tell dispatch that he and his partner were taking a woman to the district station and not reporting their mileage.

Clark, who joined the NOPD in 2001 and had no prior disciplinary record, never contested that he ducked out of work too soon; but he appealed the other elements of his punishment to the Civil Service Commission. A hearing officer concluded police had "offered no testimony explaining why termination was an appropriate penalty," according to the appellate opinion.

"The undisputed facts establish that the criminal activity did not occur during the initial stop and transport when (Clark's) administrative violations occurred," the hearing officer said. "He neither participated in nor is in any way responsible for (Hollins') criminal acts ... that caused embarrassment to the department."

The commission considered the hearing officer's opinion but nonetheless upheld the discipline. NOPD had argued that Clark's failure to adhere to protocol directly led to the "brutal" attack, the appellate opinion says.

Clark appealed to the 4th Circuit. That court called NOPD's argument against Clark "bunkum," or nonsense.

"Even if Officer Clark had contacted his supervisor before transporting the victim and called dispatch with the mileage information, Officer Hollins could still commit the criminal acts he committed," the court said. "No correlation exists between Officer Clark's violation of protocol and the unfortunate acts that occurred later in the evening."

Aside from ordering Clark's reinstatement, the court decided to give the officer a pair of five-day suspensions for neglect of duty in addition to the one he had not challenged.

Rape trial begins for police officer

Rape trial begins for former police officer

SANTA ANA – A paranoid, jealous and controlling Huntington Beach police officer sexually, physically and emotionally abused his ex-wife and former girlfriend as he alternated between explosive and loving phases with both women, a prosecutor told a jury Thursday.

But the defense attorney for former officer James Roberts, 36, said the women joined forces before suing him for money and did not tell authorities of their most serious allegations until later.

James Roberts, a former Huntington Beach Police Department officer accused of sexually abusing his ex-wife and ex-girlfriend, listens during opening statements of his trial in Santa Ana.

"Although they started out as rivals, they became a team," John Barnett said. "They talked to one another. Not shockingly, their (stories) ultimately start to line up."

Roberts is charged with 20 felony counts, including rape, sodomy by force, criminal threats, false imprisonment and aggravated assault. If convicted, he faces life in prison with the possibility of parole.

Deputy District Attorney John Christl told jurors in Superior Court Judge Patrick Donahue's court that within less than three years of the Roberts' 2003 marriage and birth of a son, the defendant began having affairs and was deceitful.

He used his police powers to find out who his wife and girlfriend were seeing, Christl said in his opening statement.

And, "when he snaps, he becomes a stalker," the prosecutor said.

After moving out of his Huntington Beach home, Roberts became increasingly controlling, and the threats and abuse that followed led to his wife being injured, her personal property being damaged and to her rape, Christl said.

The prosecutor said that Roberts told his wife, "I own you."

Barnett told jurors they will have to decide whether the women can be believed. He contended both women sent sexually charged messages to Roberts after the time that they said they were raped.

"There's a lot of sex. I mean, a lot," he said, adding photographs will show consensual sex.

Barnett added that Robert's wife hardly seems a "terrorized woman" two weeks after she said he threatened to kill her, when, in an email, she asked him to send a photo of a sex act.

Each filed a civil lawsuit against the city and the Police Department, but the former girlfriend has since dropped her suit. Roberts was arrested Sept. 2, 2009, and was fired from the Police Department on April 15, 2010, after an internal investigation.

 

 

 

 

A sheriff’s deputy accused of sexually assaulting women

•Box Elder County, Utah: A sheriff’s deputy accused of sexually assaulting women during a series of traffic stops has reached a plea agreement that could land him in state prison for up to five years. ow.ly/hGAfL From Police Misconduct.Net

A sheriff’s deputy accused of sexually assaulting women

•Box Elder County, Utah: A sheriff’s deputy accused of sexually assaulting women during a series of traffic stops has reached a plea agreement that could land him in state prison for up to five years. ow.ly/hGAfL From Police Misconduct.Net

The village council voted unanimously to terminate the police chief

•Newton Falls, Ohio: The village council voted unanimously to terminate the police chief amid an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment made by a female employee. The measure was passed as an emergency “to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the community.” ow.ly/hGSSc From Police Misconduct.Net

A state trooper charged with raping two women

•Plattsburgh, New York: A state trooper charged with raping two women has been charged with attacking a third woman. http://ow.ly/hEh7k From Police Misconduct.Net

A now ex-police officer has pleaded guilty to

•Rockwood, Michigan: A now ex-police officer has pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges in connection with an allegation of inappropriate contact involving a female prisoner in his custody. As part of his plea, he has agreed not to challenge his termination. http://ow.ly/hyuBY From Police Misconduct.

Cop multiple counts of sexual assault

•Pueblo County, Colorado: An officer will face multiple counts of sexual assault and kidnapping, along with menacing and another count of tampering with evidence. He is accused of kidnapping his estranged girlfriend at gunpoint, taking her to his home and sexually assaulting her, before taking her back to her home. ow.ly/hxYoa   From Police Misconduct.

A police officer is under investigation for allegedly groping a pregnant, handcuffed woman

•Auburn, Washington: A police officer is under investigation for allegedly groping a pregnant, handcuffed woman. Another police department is now conducting a criminal investigation.  http://ow.ly/hC7bq From Police Misconduct.

From Police Misconduct. net

Mt. Vernon, Illinois: A former trooper who struck and killed two sisters is making an argument for why his driver’s license should be reinstated. He was driving 125 mph when his police cruiser left the roadway and struck the car holding the sisters. He was sentenced to probation for the crash. ow.ly/h7S9y

From Police Misconduct.Net

Nora Springs, Iowa: A cop was arrested and charged with child endangerment. He allegedly choked his victim, causing him to have difficulty breathing and leaving a red mark on his neck. http://ow.ly/hgEhZ

From Police Misconduct.Net

Law Cruces, New Mexico: The city has settled a civil rights lawsuit filed against police alleging unlawful arrest and excessive use of force by three officers. In exchange for the money, the plaintiff agreed to dismiss his lawsuit against the officers. http://ow.ly/hgTIr

From Police Misconduct.Net

Irving, Texas: The trooper who conducted a roadside cavity search will be terminated. The Department of Public Safety called it an unconstitutional search without probable cause. ow.ly/hgC04

From Police Misconduct.Net

Evansville, Indiana: A 68-year-old Evansville woman, who was at home with her granddaughter when police in SWAT gear tossed in flash grenades into her home, and forced their way inside to serve a warrant, has filed a lawsuit against the city and the police department. Police came up empty-handed in a search for evidence about threatening Internet posts but only after damaging the house, handcuffing the woman and her granddaughter and seizing their computers, according to the lawsuit. http://ow.ly/hgUjo

From Police Misconduct.Net

Galveston, Texas: A woman allegedly assaulted by a cop expressed relief after learning that the officer was fired from his job. “To have a member of this organization violate the trust of the public just cannot be tolerated,” said the police chief. ow.ly/hglVA

From Police Misconduct.Net

Louisville, Kentucky: A National Guard lieutenant colonel has filed a lawsuit against several Metro Cops, alleging he was assaulted and wrongfully detained when they took him to the ground and handcuffed him after a confrontation. ow.ly/heE25

From Police Misconduct.Net

Walnut Creek, California: The family of a hairdresser killed by police is seeking $15 million in a wrongful-death suit filed against four members of the police department, alleging the 22-year-old man was shot after officers tripped and fell over one another. ow.ly/heFfj

From Police Misconduct.Net

Oakland County, Michigan: Prosecutors have dropped 16 drug cases in recent months, including one involving a large-scale marijuana bust, after an investigation determined a deputy on the county’s narcotics enforcement team falsified a search warrant and lied under oath. The officer has been fired. ow.ly/heuuC

From Police Misconduct.Net

El Paso, Colorado: A former sheriff’s detective who leveled his service pistol at fellow law enforcement officers during a standoff will remain on the sheriff’s payroll despite his guilty plea. ow.ly/hetIE

From Police Misconduct.Net

Update: St. Louis, Missouri: The internal affairs division has recommended that a veteran officer be fired for his conduct during an alleged assault of a handcuffed man at a casino. ow.ly/hetin

From Police Misconduct.Net

Fort Smith, Arkansas: A police trooper lost his job after an investigation states he had sex with a married woman while on duty. He was a probationary employee at the time of the firing.

From Police Misconduct.Net

Mission, Texas; An officer was arrested on a driving while intoxicated charge; he hit a mailbox. ow.ly/hdlbC

From Police Misconduct.Net

Malden, Massachusetts: An officer accused of seeking prescription painkillers from an alleged drug dealer has lost his jobs, officials confirmed. ow.ly/hdl4R

From Police Misconduct.Net

Racine, Wisconsin: An officer is on administrative duty after he was stopped by another officer, reportedly for driving under the influence. ow.ly/hdkkO

From Police Misconduct.Net

 Macon, Georgia: One of 2 officers charged with stealing a tractor is in jail again. He was arrested and charged with two felony counts of theft by taking, two counts of altered vehicle identification numbers, and one count of fiduciary theft. ow.ly/hdkgD

From Police Misconduct.Net

Putnamville, Indiana: An officer was caught smuggling cocaine, marijuana, Suboxone and Xanex into a correctional facility. He was reportedly hoping to make $500, and instead he lost his job and wound up in court facing five felony counts ow.ly/hdk6X

From Police Misconduct.Net

Longmont, Colorado: A cop is on paid administrative leave awaiting the results of an internal investigation and a criminal investigation following an arrest. He was suspected of driving under the influence. ow.ly/hdkVj

From Police Misconduct.Net

 Houston, Texas: Two cops have been accused of accepting bribes and allowing cocaine to be smuggled and distributed. The police chief released a statement saying: “We will never tolerate criminal misconduct from any of our employees. Both officers have been relieved of duty pending the outcome of the Internal Affairs investigation.” ow.ly/hcCjq

From Police Misconduct.Net

Beaver County, Pennsylvania: A deputy was found guilty of tax evasion by a federal jury. ow.ly/hcgBT 

From Police Misconduct.Net

Fresno, California: An officer admitted that he lied about details in a police report. He denied charges of police brutality and a cover-up. If he is convicted, he, and another officer, faces 20 years in prison. ow.ly/hcgkr

From Police Misconduct.Net

Murray County, Georgia: A deputy said he was following orders when he did not tell the truth during a Georgia Bureau of Investigation inquiry. Hen said a supervisor told him to lie, and he was afraid to disobey the directive. ow.ly/hceEJ

From Police Misconduct.Net

Mounds, Oklahoma: Two cops have been charged with embezzlement after an investigation into missing money.  ow.ly/hbVyR

From Police Misconduct.Net

Orlando, FL: A cop won’t be facing any charges stemming from an arrest that alleged he beat his girlfriend. ow.ly/h8zB0

From Police Misconduct.Net

Los Angeles, California: A secretive cellphone spy device known as StingRay, intended to fight terrorism, was used in far more routine LAPD criminal investigations 21 times in a four-month period during 2012, apparently without the courts’ knowledge that the technology probes the lives of non-suspects who happen to be in the same neighborhood as suspected terrorists. ow.ly/h7UfH

From Police Misconduct.Net

Pasadena, California: A cop illegally recorded a conversation between a man in custody and his attorney, the attorney says. California protects the confidentiality of recording between attorneys and clients, said the lawyer. He points to provisions of the state Penal Code that prohibit cops from recording or eavesdropping on conversations between in-custody suspects and their lawyers. ow.ly/h7TUY

From Police Misconduct.Net

Monmouth County, New Jersey: The plaintiff in a case says he was assaulted, threatened with death, refused access to an attorney, and even denied use of the bathroom by a pair of officers. Both officers declined comment, but a police commander said “they’re two outstanding officers.” ow.ly/h7Sob

From Police Misconduct.Net

Highland Park, Michigan: Four cops face charges including accepting bribes and distributing sham cocaine. One of the officers is accused, among other allegations, of agreeing in principal to kill someone for $20,000. ow.ly/h8xhx

From Police Misconduct.Net

Elkton, Kentucky: Units conducted an undercover investigation and performed a controlled delivery  to a cop; it was determined he was attempting to buy narcotics while on duty. ow.ly/h8wPA

From Police Misconduct.Net

 South Lake Tahoe, California: An officer has been arrested for allegedly influencing witness testimonies and asking witnesses to tamper with evidence. http://ow.ly/h6yHG

From Police Misconduct.Net

Newport News, Virginia: A cop was arrested on federal mail and wire fraud charges. http://ow.ly/h6B6i

From Police Misconduct.Net

Macon, Georgia: Two officers were arrested on allegations that they stole a tractor from a plumbing business. They were charged with theft by taking, criminal trespass, burglary, conspiracy to commit a crime, and violation of the oath of office. ow.ly/h8syZ

From Police Misconduct.Net

op accused of raping a woman in her 70s has a court date

Sacramento, California: A now-former cop accused of raping a woman in her 70s has a court date, and the alleged victim is supposed to testify. ow.ly/hgAUc

From Police Misconduct.Net

Cop charged with inappropriate relationship with a woman he has charged with a crime.

New Bern, North Carolina: An investigator with the sheriff’s officer has been accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a woman he has charged with a crime. The investigation is ongoing. It is not a crime to have relations with someone he or she has charged with a crime, but it would be a conflict of interest in court. ow.ly/hiRKk

From Police Misconduct.Net

Leesburg cop charged with sexual misconduct

 LEESBURG, Fla.

A Leesburg cop has been arrested following a months-long investigation into an allegation of sexual misconduct.

On Wednesday afternoon, agents with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement executed an arrest warrant on Henri Bart Larue, 25, for sexual battery by a law enforcement officer with a firearm.

The Leesburg Police Department was made aware of the allegation by a department member in early October of last year. Since then, an internal investigation was opened by the department and a request was made to the FDLE to conduct a parallel investigation.

"The allegations were of a criminal nature and are taken very seriously by the administration of the Leesburg Police Department," said Leesburg Police Captain Rob Hicks.

Larue was originally employed with the Leesburg Police Department on March 15, 2012 and was placed on paid administrative leave October 5, 2012 immediately following the criminal allegations.

Larue has filed a confidentiality request regarding his jail booking photograph; therefore, it will not be released to the public. He also declined a FOX 35 request for an interview.

Ala. Officer accused of sodomy

 Investigators said Michael Burton sexually assaulted a client who reported to him as part of the client's probation. Burton is on paid administrative leave. The probation office is charged with custodial sexual misconduct. He was booked into the Tuscaloosa County Jail and posted $15,000 bail.

The investigators handling the case believe the criminal charges could be upgraded once the case goes to a grand jury.

According to the Tuscaloosa Metro Homicide Unit, the victim reported to his parole officer, Michael Burton, at Burtons’ office on Tuesday around 3:30. That's allegedly when the assault took place.

The assistant executive director of the Alabama Parole and Probation office in Montgomery, Eddie Cook Jr said he expects officers to uphold a certain code of ethics. “Anytime we have a situation like this it is definitely a thorn in the side to know that you have any employee that could possibly be thinking about committing a crime of this nature. Now there again Mr. Burton has not been convicted of this, but the allegations are strong and they don't look good. And no agency wants to hear that from its employees.”

According to Loyd Baker, with the Tuscaloosa Metro Homicide Unit, Burton had been the victim's parole officer since January 10th. After investigators finished the initial interview with the alleged victim at the sheriff’s office, he went directly to the hospital for a sexual assault test. The results from the test aren't available yet.

Baker said they don't know what the victim's motivation could be, if he is lying about the incident. “Basically we looked into, when the initial complaint came in, did he have motive to fabricate a story to try to get out of some sort of charge or prolonged probation. But we found that he was about to be off probation next month,” Baker added.

Investigators said the strongest piece of evidence they have is an audio recording of the alleged incident that the victim apparently recorded on his cell phone.

The Alabama Parole and Probation office is conducting their own investigation during the 10 days Burton is on leave

DNA linked Miami officer to sexual battery in patrol car, authorities say

Luis Hernandez, a 7-year veteran, is accused of fondling a woman outside his patrol car when he was supposed to transport her to jail.

Instead of transporting a woman to jail, a Miami cop fondled her and tried to force her to perform oral sex on him, authorities said.

Officer Luis Hernandez, 27, was arrested Wednesday and charged with armed kidnapping and sexual battery by a law enforcement officer. DNA found on the woman linked him to the attack, prosecutors said.

His arrest comes as the Miami Police Department has sought to clean house amid a series of scandals involving officer misconduct.

Also Wednesday, the department announced it was firing an officer who shot and killed an unarmed motorist during a traffic stop in Little Haiti two years ago. Prosecutors did not file charges, but police nevertheless said the officer violated department policies.

The internal affairs unit and the FBI is also investigating up to 10 officers suspected of providing protection to a Liberty City gambling house; so far, one officer has been arrested.

A Miami detective was also convicted this month in federal court for stealing money and drugs from suspects.

In Hernandez’s case, he was tasked with transporting to jail a woman who had been arrested in November 2011 for fighting another woman at La Boriqua Cafeteria in Wynwood. The woman had been charged with simple battery and taken to Miami police headquarters.

Instead, Hernandez took the woman to a police detention center at Bayside Marketplace. Another officer grew concerned because the woman had injuries, according to an arrest warrant.

That officer took the woman to Miami-Dade County Jail, which refused to accept her because of her injuries. She immediately told jailers that Hernandez had attacked her.

Internal affairs Detective Herminia Salas-Jacobson noted that there were 34 minutes of “unaccounted time” that Hernandez had the woman in his control.

The woman told investigators that Hernandez drove her to an area near the police station, saying “I am going to help you,” according to the arrest warrant.

Outside the patrol car, Hernandez poured a “liquid” on her and began fondling her, the warrant said. He also demanded oral sex, but the crying woman refused. He later stopped and drove her to Bayside.

At the jail, she “explained that although she is an illegal alien and has no immigration documents and no family in this country, she reported the incident because she believed this could happen to more people if she did not disclose,” the warrant said.

Hernandez is not the first officer to be accused of sexual misconduct. Ex-Miami Officer Michael Ragusa pleaded guilty in 2008 to sexual attacks on three woman; he was sentenced to 10 years in prison. 

Former East St. Louis cop sentenced in sexual coercion case

EAST ST. LOUIS — A former East St. Louis cop will serve 30 months in prison on charges relating to coercing a sex act from a female driver.

Former patrolman Ramone T. Carpenter was indicted last year on charges that he lied to federal agents who were investigating a civil rights complaint. Carpenter and another officer, Christopher Parks, had already been fired by East St. Louis police.

According to the charges, Carpenter and Parks stopped a 25-year-old woman who was driving while intoxicated, had no valid driver's license or insurance for the vehicle she was driving.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Weinhoeft asked U.S. District Judge Michael J. Reagan to sentence Carpenter to 36 months. Defense attorney William Stiehl Jr. asked for a split sentence partial probation and partial house arrest.

The 40-year-old Carpenter had no prior criminal history and was not likely to get in any trouble again, Stiehl argued.

Weinhoeft said what the former officer did was a serious offense.

He said Carpenter not only lied the first time the FBI agents talked to him about it, but he repeatedly lied. Weinhoeft said there have been numerous city officials and members of law enforcement in the area who have committed serious crimes while on duty and that a message needed to be sent to deter future cops from committing similar offenses.

The victim testified at Carpenter's sentencing Thursday afternoon in front of Reagan that she performed the sex act on Carpenter because she was afraid he was going to take her to jail and report to DCFS that she had left her four children who were 10, 9, 8, and 1 home alone. She said she didn't break any laws that would justify a police stop. But, she said when she left the Citgo at 25th Street and Louisiana, where she had gone to buy some cognac, she saw two officers sitting side by side talking to each other. She drove off and had gotten about a block away from them when she saw flashing police lights in her rear view mirror.

She testified that she was instructed to roll her window down by Carpenter. She was crying because she was afraid she was going to jail for not having a license, insurance and was driving while intoxicated.

The victim said she had been arrested previously about seven or eight times for driving without a valid license. On those occasions, because she couldn't afford to bond out of jail, she always got out after serving the time. She knew her four children would be home alone without an adult present if she went to jail. She said she didn't have any money to post her bond.

Carpenter and Parks, knew the victim had been drinking since about 9:30 p.m. and the police stop was at 2:45 a.m. Parks, while searching her car, found open alcohol and poured it out. Still, the two of them allowed the victim to drive to her apartment, where Carpenter said, through testimony he made prior to the FBI, that they took the victim to her apartment and searched the closets, the kitchen and bathroom looking for her boyfriend, who the victim had told him she feared.

The victim said that was not true. She said Carpenter and Parks said they wanted to search her house. Weinhoeft told Reagan that the victim's fourth amendment rights were violated.

"There's no question there was no basis to stop the vehicle and no reason to detain her. The victim, Weinhoeft said, was credible when she described the way she was frisked. It wasn't a frisk. There was nothing proper about it. He said what Carpenter did was "groping, fondling -- something that was sexually inappropriate."

Weinhoeft said the victim felt threatened that she would be arrested and her children would be being taken away if the cops filed a report with the DCFS telling them that she had left them home alone while she went out to buy alcohol, and that was clearly the reason why the victim performed a sex act on Carpenter in a secluded part of Jones Park.

He said Carpenter nor Parks called the dispatcher to let her know of the traffic stop, where they were or anything proper that police do.

Stiehl argued that the victim was a former prostitute who had worked at the Chameleon Club in Washington Park and got paid to perform sexual acts.

The victim said she hadn't done that type of work in two years and denied she did a sexual act with Carpenter for pay.

Stiehl portrayed her as a woman scorned. He said when the victim learned that Carpenter didn't have any money ($30) to pay her and that he was married, she became upset. He pointed out that the victim was never handcuffed, was riding in the front seat of Carpenter's squad car and that the two of them never spoke a word while riding in the car.

The victim said she thought Carpenter was taking her to the East St. Louis Police Department, but the way he went was not in the direction of the Police Department.

"I was not sure where I was going," she said.

At the park, "He asked me to have sex with him. I lied and told him I was on my menstruation. Then, he told me to have oral sex with him. Before I could answer, he had his pants unzipped and his private out. I knew I had to do it because he was a cop. I didn't want to do it," she said crying and wiping tears from her eyes.

Afterward, Carpenter dropped the victim off at her apartment. She called her grandmother, a brother and sister and told them of the ordeal. A brother took her to the East St. Louis Police Department about 11 a.m. to file a police report.

Stiehl said the victim had the opportunity to tell Parks that she didn't want to have sex with Carpenter and didn't. He contended that the sex was consensual.

The victim said Carpenter turned his police radio off and turned his radio music up while he was driving to the Park. She said she didn't know where he was going until he arrived at the park. The victim said he told her that he was not going to answer any calls on his police radio.

Stiehl asked her why she didn't tell the other officer (Parks) to make Carpenter stop or tell him that she didn't want him to touch her. The victim said "He was standing there watching:.

Weinhoeft said the victim's 14 amendment right of due process body integrity had been violated.

"This was not about a romantic encounter," he said. Weinhoeft said she may have engaged in prostitution at some other time, "but not on May 8."

"She acquiesced to authority," Weinhoeft said.

Reagan told Carpenter that he had an obligation to be truthful when he spoke to the FBI. He said the judicial system does not work if people are not truthful

"No one knows that better than a cop," he said.

"Cops need to protect, not exploit. The victim is not a poster child. But, people like her in East St. Louis, downtrodden and distraught, deserve and need police protection. But they get the only two cops on the street in Jones Park committing a sex act and the other one is covering for him," Reagan said. He pointed out that nationally the numbers are horrific for violent crimes, but in East St.. Louis sometimes the numbers are double the national stats.

He also pointed out that there are many good officers in East St. Louis who bring dignity to the badge.

Carpenter choked up and sometimes wiped tears from his eyes as he apologized to his family, the city of East St. Louis and to his fellow cops.

He said his marriage was over and that he had nothing. He said that person on May 8 was not him.

"That was not me your honor. All I know is work. I lost my wife, my three kids, my job and my future. I don't have anything. It's been rough. That's all I have to say," Carpenter said, wiping his eyes. Then he took his seat behind his attorney at the defense table. Reagan allowed him to surrender when the U.S. Marshall Service calls him to report to the Bureau of Prisons.