Aspen police officer Joe Holman, 38, resigned his position and turned himself in to authorities Wednesday to face allegations that he attempted to sexually exploit his teenage stepdaughter.
Holman, a six-year veteran of the police department and a city of Aspen employee since 1994, is charged with two counts of attempted sexual exploitation of a child, a class 4 felony; tampering with evidence, a class 6 felony; child abuse, a class 2 misdemeanor; and attempted criminal invasion of privacy, a class 3 misdemeanor.
He allegedly placed a camera the size of a Ping-Pong ball in his stepdaughter’s shower. The incident was investigated by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which elected to pursue charges. The bureau also investigated Holman after a similar accusation involving his stepdaughter surfaced last year, according to court records.
Holman was put on paid administrative leave May 29 while the CBI conducted a criminal investigation. The Aspen Police Department probed the matter internally but officials said they are not releasing their findings.
“The internal investigation has been concluded but due to the fact it’s a personnel matter, we’re not able to comment further,” Aspen police spokeswoman Stephanie Desarro said Thursday.
Holman could not be reached for comment. He turned himself in to a Pitkin County sheriff’s deputy Wednesday and was taken to jail. He was released from the Pitkin County Jail the same day on $11,000 bond.
An affidavit signed by CBI agent Brooks Bennett reports that Holman’s stepdaughter went to take a shower in her bathroom the night of April 29 when she noticed “something out of place” in the front of a mesh bag used for Holman’s younger son’s toys. Inside the mesh bag, hanging just above the top of the bathtub, she found a tiny camera contained in a waterproof case pointed toward her, the affidavit states.
Holman initially denied having knowledge of the camera. When confronted by his family, “Joe asked, ‘Do you think I did it as a pervert move?’ ... [His family members] replied, ‘I don’t know.’ Joe stated ‘if this is such a big issue, give it to me’ and he placed the camera on the floor and stomped on the camera destroying it,” the affidavit says.
The next morning, Holman admitted to putting the camera in the shower, explaining he did it because he was upset with his stepdaughter.
“Holman maintains he placed the camera only to make [her] mad. [She] had recently been disciplined, but was not following the rules set in place during the discipline,” the CBI affidavit says. “Holman figured since [his stepdaughter] was ‘pissing him off’ he would do something that would do the same to her. In 2008, [she] had accused Holman of watching her inappropriately. Holman told me those allegations gave him the idea of placing the camera in the shower. Since [she] thought he was watching her last year, he decided to place the camera to make her think he was watching her now, therefore making her mad.”
Holman claimed he placed the camera in the shower the same day it was found. The affidavit said Holman now realizes he made a mistake.
The stepdaughter told police she doesn’t believe Holman used the photos for anything sexual; she believes he wanted to make her angry.
The affidavit says that Holman “was apparently using his work laptop computer to view the digital images recorded by the camera.”
In 2008, Holman’s stepdaughter claimed she “saw things” that made her feel like her stepfather was creeping around, watching her. He walked in on her, apparently mistaking her bedroom for the laundry room, and she once saw a mirror slide underneath her bedroom door, the affidavit said.
Holman has been married to the alleged victim’s biological mother for about eight years. He and the woman have a young child together.
His first court appearance is scheduled for July 20 at 10:30 a.m. An attorney has not entered an appearance on his behalf but the affidavit identified Richard Daly, who could not be reached, as his lawyer.
