An Indianapolis police officer and his wife were accused Wednesday of running a prostitution ring out of their Greenwood home, and a former top criminal justice agency official was arrested and charged with patronizing a prostitute.
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Patrolman Jeremy Lee, 30, was fired after Johnson County prosecutors filed a felony charge against him of aiding in promoting prostitution. His wife, Lori Vernon-Lee, 36, faces five felony counts of promoting prostitution.
Jerry McCory, 56, who most recently served as a Marion County sheriff's liaison at Jail II and Liberty Hall, is charged with patronizing a prostitute, a misdemeanor.
McCory, former director of the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute, a Merrillville police chief and a public safety adviser to Mayor Bart Peterson, resigned from the Sheriff's Department on June 25 without explanation.
Lee was a probationary officer who joined the department in October. His arrest marks the fifth of an IMPD officer in the past 16 days.
"We're disturbed by his conduct; we're ashamed of him," IMPD Chief Michael Spears said. "The thing the public needs to know is this investigation (was made) by the members of our own agency. . . . We're going to be a stronger agency for the removal of individuals like Mr. Lee."
Johnson County Prosecutor Lance Hamner said the charges followed an IMPD investigation submitted to his office early Wednesday. He said a prostitution case involving law enforcement is unprecedented in the community south of Indianapolis.
"That's unusual anywhere," Hamner said. "But we've never seen it here."
According to a probable cause affidavit, Lori Vernon-Lee solicited women to work for her escort service and advertised their services through a local weekly newspaper. Vernon-Lee would arrange for escorts to meet with clients at the escorts' homes or in hotels, where they would perform acts ranging from massage to sexual intercourse, according to interviews with clients and escorts cited in the affidavit. Vernon-Lee would take a portion of the fee for their services.
According to an affidavit, Jeremy Lee told police he answered phones for his wife's service, acted as a bodyguard for women while they were with clients and helped collect money from the escorts while wearing his police uniform.
He said he assisted his wife with her business as far back as 1998, when she ran an escort service in New Hampshire, the affidavit says.
As part of the IMPD investigation, detectives randomly selected six names of clients who patronized Vernon-Lee's service from her log books. Among the names was McCory, whose name was listed under April 24, according to the affidavit.
McCory is accused of hiring an escort to perform oral sex. He was hired by the Sheriff's Department in December to monitor oversight and compliance in the department's work with private-facilities operators. His salary was $69,866 a year. He was not subject to disciplinary action or investigation by the Marion County department during his tenure, said Julio Fernandez, a spokesman for the department.
Since Lee had not completed probation, Spears said he could fire Lee without going through formal procedures that could include a hearing before the department's merit board.
No other police officers or public officials are suspected in the case, said Capt. Chris Boomershine of the IMPD strategic investigations branch.
Lee joins four officers facing charges filed in the past three weeks. Narcotics officer Jason S. Barber, 32, was charged last week with selling a handgun to a felon and official misconduct. He was released from jail Wednesday after a judge granted his request for reduced bond.
The previous week, narcotics officers Robert B. Long and Jason P. Edwards and patrol officer James Davis were indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than 50 kilograms (110 pounds) of marijuana. They resigned June 19.
"It's not fair to indict any other part of the Police Department other than to indict the personal decisions to commit intentional actions, which were criminal on the part of these ex-officers," Spears said in reference to the recent police arrests.
McCory turned himself in Wednesday, Hamner said, but paid his bond, which was set at $2,000. He did not return phone calls Wednesday evening seeking comment.
Vernon-Lee was arrested Wednesday and was in Johnson County Jail on Wednesday night on $40,000 bond.
Lee, who was out of town on military training in Massachusetts, received the news of the charges and the warrant in a cell phone call Wednesday afternoon.
If convicted, the Lees each could face a maximum of eight years in prison and fines of up to $10,000 apiece, Hamner said. McCory could face up to a year and a maximum $5,000 fine.
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