A Baltimore police officer was arrested Wednesday in Howard County and charged with sexual abuse and solicitation of a minor, county police said.
Charles Hagge, 44 of the 8800 block of Goose Landing Circle in Columbia was arrested after police say he communicated with a 14-year-old advertising prostitution services online.
Howard County police said investigators believe the two exchanged text messages before meeting at his home and engaging in sexual activity on three occasions between January and May 2013.
Police said Hagee was taken into custody at Baltimore police headquarters on charges of third- and fourth-degree sexual offense, sexual solicitation of a minor and prostitution. Hagee was being held on $75,000 bond and did not have a lawyer listed in court records.
Howard County police said Hagee was assigned to the Special Enforcement Section, an elite unit that investigates violent crimes. Baltimore police said Hagee worked in administrative roles and would be suspended with pay if he posts bond, per department policy.
For years, Hagee had been on a list of officers deemed untrustworthy by prosecutors, known as the "do not call" list, under the administration of former Baltimore State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy. The list was a tool for prosecutors to prevent police from working on cases in which their integrity might be challenged on the stand.
The Baltimore Sun reported in 2008 that Hagee had responded to a woman's 911 call in 2004 even though he knew he was the subject of her complaint, and then attempted to misdirect other officers into chasing a fake suspect.
At a department trial board, Hagee pleaded guilty in August 2006 to two administrative charges of conduct unbecoming a police officer and received a 10-day suspension, loss of 10 days' leave and involuntary transfer from the Organized Crime Division, according to court records.
He was allowed to return to enforcement work briefly in 2008, but after prosecutors discovered the 911 case and Jessamy placed him on the do not call list, he was assigned to administrative duties, according to records and news reports.
Hagee sued the Baltimore Police Department in 2009, alleging that he suffered racial and gender discrimination as a white male. He alleged that black and female officers in similar misconduct cases received lighter punishment. The lawsuit was dismissed.
Court records show that Hagee was not a police witness in any case filed in court from the time he was placed on the list until 2011, after the election of State's Attorney Gregg L. Bernstein, who vowed during his campaign to abolish the list. Hagee is listed as a police witness in about a dozen cases, including a burglary case from 2013 in which a man received four years in prison.
Asked for comment on the status of the do not call list, spokesman Mark Cheshire said the state's attorney's office does not maintain such a list.
"We conduct evaluations on case-by-case basis to determine if we can go forward with the evidence we have," Cheshire said.
City records show that Hagee earned more than double his base salary in fiscal year 2013, with gross pay of $138,800 on a base salary of $65,200. In fiscal year 2012, he earned about $130,800 on $64,600 base pay.
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