Sgt. Jason Curry Arrested for Drug and Prostitution Charges

A sergeant with the Andalusia Police Department was arrested Wednesday night on multiple charges, including illegal drugs and promotion of prostitution.

Andalusia Mayor Earl Johnson and Interim Police Chief Paul Hudson identified the officer as Sergeant Jason Curry and say he was relieved of his duties following the arrest.

WSFA 12 News initially reported that Curry had been fired, but that is not accurate. Even though Curry has been relieved of his duties, Mayor Johnson says he must have a pre-determination hearing to determine if further disciplinary actions, including termination, are warranted.

Much of the details are still limited, as the investigation is ongoing. Officials with the ABC Board confirm they are investigating at the request of the Covington County District Attorney's office and assisted with the arrests.

Curry is charged with Distribution of Controlled Substances, Possession of Controlled Substances and Promotion of Prostitution. Curry's father, Otis "Randy" Curry, was also arrested and charged with two counts of Distribution of Controlled Substances.

Jason Curry's bond was set at $165,000. Otis Curry's bond was set at $200,000. Both have since posted bail and are currently out of jail.

Curry's pre-determination meeting could be held as early as next week.

Fort Hood Sgt. Gregory McQueen Faces Several Charges

 A Fort Hood sergeant who was a coordinator of the post's sexual assault and harassment prevention program faces multiple charges after he was accused of setting up a prostitution ring involving cash-strapped female soldiers.

Sgt. 1st Class Gregory McQueen was charged Friday with 21 counts related to pandering, conspiracy, maltreatment of a subordinate, abusive sexual contact, and adultery and conduct of a nature to bring discredit to the armed forces, according to a Fort Hood statement.

An Article 32 hearing, the military equivalent of a civilian grand jury proceeding, is scheduled for March 20 and 21 at Fort Hood.

It was not clear if McQueen had an attorney Friday, Fort Hood spokesman Christopher Haug said. A home number for McQueen could not be found.

Last May, the Army said a sergeant first class was being investigated on allegations of sexual assault and possibly arranging for at least one woman to have sex for money. The Army said he was one of the coordinators of the program at Fort Hood, about 125 miles southwest of Fort Worth.

Army officials declined to release his name at the time, but two officials speaking anonymously to The Associated Press because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the case identified that soldier as McQueen, who was assigned as a coordinator of a battalion-level sexual assault prevention program at the Central Texas Army post.

U.S. officials had said he was being investigated in connection with activities involving three women, including sexually assaulting one woman. At the time, a Defense Department official in Washington said it was not clear if one of the women was forced into prostitution or participated willingly. McQueen remains suspended from his duties but is free pending trial, Haug said.

Another Fort Hood soldier was court-martialed in the case. Master Sgt. Brad Grimes was convicted in December of conspiring to patronize a prostitute and solicitation to commit adultery, reprimanded and demoted.

The Fort Hood case and others like it have increased pressure on the Pentagon and Capitol Hill to confront sexual misconduct in the armed forces.

The charges against McQueen came one day after the Senate rejected a bill that would have stripped military commanders of the authority to decide whether to prosecute serious crimes.

The legislation was sponsored by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. and chairwoman of the Senate Armed Services personnel subcommittee. In a Feb. 10 letter, she called on Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to turn over case information from four major U.S. bases, including Fort Hood.

The records would shed more light on how military commanders make decisions about courts-martial and punishments in sexual assault cases.

Former Sergeant Edward Wise Charged with Indecency with Child

A former San Antonio police sergeant, who was fired last October for indecency with a child, hid a previous out-of-state arrest from the department, according to internal affairs paperwork.

Edward Wise, 45, was arrested last week and charged with indecency with a child by contact, connected to an April 2013 incident at a San Antonio apartment complex.

Wise is accused of groping a 12-year-old, after taking the young girl and her mother home from a west-side restaurant.

Chief William McManus fired Wise in October 2013, following a month-long investigation into the allegations.

The personnel move appeared on a city Civil Service Commission agenda as a 'double indefinite suspension.'

The internal affairs paperwork indicates Wise received the second indefinite suspension for failing to disclose a May 2008 arrest in Las Vegas, Nevada, for solicitation of prostitution.

San Antonio Police Department investigators said Wise took steps to have the misdemeanor charge dismissed and then even paid to have the record sealed by the Clark County District Attorney.

SAPD rules require officers to disclose any arrests, including the name of the arresting agency, the nature of the charges and court information related to the charge or the indictment.

Two attorneys listed in Wise's internal affairs paperwork told KENS 5 they are no longer representing Wise.

SAPD spokesman Sgt. Javier Salazar released the following statement Thursday afternoon:

Edward Wise is no longer an SAPD employee.  We conducted a thorough Internal Affairs investigation which was concluded.  Our criminal investigation remains active and we continue to work with the prosecutors with the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office to assist in their processing of the case.

Wise is the second SAPD officer to be criminally charged and fired for allegations of sexual assault since November 2013.

Officer Jackie Neal was fired February 2014, after he was indicted on three felony charges connected to a traffic stop in southeast San Antonio. Neal is accused of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman in the back of his patrol cruiser while in full uniform.

Sgt. Kevin Simmons Charged with Soliciting Prostitution

A Baltimore City police sergeant was among four people arrested Wednesday night in a vice sting in Baltimore County.

County police said the men solicited prostitution and offered money to undercover detectives.

Sgt. Kevin Simmons, 40, is among those charged. The other three men were identified as Edward Yuditsky, 42, of Timonium; Trevor William Joseph Barnes, 44, of Mount Airy; and Mark Kane, 48, of Eldersburg.

The four men taken into custody were charged with two counts of prostitution. All except Kane, who also faces drug charges, were released on their own recognizance. Kane was held at the Baltimore County Detention Center on $5,000 bail.

Simmons has been assigned to the Neighborhood Patrol Bureau in the Western District. He has been with the department since January 1996.

Officer Emmanuel Augustine Arrested for Prostitution

Emmanuel Augustine was off duty when he propositioned what he thought was a hooker.

It turns out the woman was an undercover deputy from the same Houston, Texas precinct he works in.

Or used to work in.

Augustine’s co-workers arrested him for soliciting the woman for sex.

The department then released a statement saying,"

"Following his identification, the administration was notified and responded to the arrest location. Emmanuel Augustine was placed on immediate administrative suspension without pay pending an investigation into the incident."

ABC13 in Houston reports Augustine was wearing his department issued pants at the time of his arrest.

Augustine has worked at Precinct 4 since 2009; he faces a fine of up to $2,000 and/or jail time of not more than 180 days.

The deputy was kept away from other inmates while in custody but has since been released on his own recognizance.

Officer Linwood Barnhill Investigated for Teen Prostitution Ring & Child Porn

A Washington D.C. police officer is under investigation for allegedly running a prostitution ring out of his apartment.

Officer Linwood Barnhill, 47, has not been arrested but is on paid administrative leave after police found a missing 16-year-old girl in his home Tuesday who told police Barnhill had arranged for her to have sex for money.

The girl told police that Barnhill had arranged for her to engage in sex acts with a man for $80 and that he told her that her working name would be ‘Juicy.’

Incredibly, a Photobucket account belonging to Linwood Barnhill discovered in an online search contains numerous pictures of scantily clad young women, a photograph that clearly shows a large amount of marijuana, a police officer in uniform handling piles of cash and several blank spaces that Photobucket has removed as inappropriate content.

Barnhill brazenly used his full name for the account, which has photographic evidence of potentially illegal behavior.

The girl told police that Barnhill took nude pictures of her and that six other women had also prostituted themselves for Barnhill.

A search warrant affidavit filed in federal court alleges sex trafficking of a minor and production of child pornography.

The Washington Times reports that in the apartment, located at 3066 Stanton Road Southeast near St. Elizabeth’s Hospital police also found marijuana along with a large number of condoms and nine pairs of women’s high heeled shoes.

Linwood Barnhill is a 24-year veteran of the city’s 7th District Police Department.

The Washington Post reports that investigating officers stayed at the Southeastern Washington DC apartment Tuesday night and most of Wednesday, and after obtaining the search warrant confiscated various items including women’s lingerie, computers and cell phones.

Court documents state that the girl told officers she had been to the apartment at least twice. Barnhill took nude pictures of her in sparkly high heels and showed them to a potential customer, who was scheduled to meet with the girl and pay $80 for sex.

Barnhill would keep $20, she said, and also pay for her to have her hair done and new clothes and shoes.

It’s not clear whether the girl had actually met with the customer.

D.C. Police Chief Cathy L Lanier said in a statement that the department ‘is very concerned about the recent allegations of egregious conduct.

Cpl. David Turner Arrested for Prostitution Near School

A Tulsa police officer was arrested for soliciting a prostitute within 1,000 feet of a school Thursday afternoon. Cpl. David Turner also faces a charge of possession of a firearm in commission of a felony.

A source close to the situation said Turner was taken into custody at the Executive Inn at 11th and Garnett just after 3 p.m. following an undercover operation performed by TPD and the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics. "The Tulsa Police Department received information regarding alleged criminal activity involving Turner and in return launched an investigation which included the Tulsa Police Departments Special Investigations Division and agents with the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs," Chief of Police Chuck Jordan said in a release.

Turner was released on bond less than two hours after being booked in the Tulsa jail. He was placed on paid administrative leave pending further investigation.

Lt. Michael Hayes Charged with Solicitation of Minor

The second in command of a small Brunswick County police force paid a teen $60 for sex acts, an arrest warrant detailed Wednesday.

Michael Alan Hayes, 38, a lieutenant with the Northwest Police Department, surrendered to police Wednesday morning on charges of solicitation of a minor for sex and filing a false police report. He has since been released.

According to the warrant, Hayes contacted the girl via Craigslist.org and met with her Nov. 27.

The warrant also charges that on the same day, Hayes filed a false report with the Brunswick County Sheriff's Office "concerning the sources and circumstances of the damage to the vehicle" he was operating. The warrant alleges Hayes' false report prevented a deputy from fully investigating "the cause of bullet strikes to the vehicle."

According to the Brunswick County Sheriff's Office, Hayes reported he was driving his personal vehicle along River Road near Sunny Point on Nov. 27 when someone shot at his car. Hayes reported finding a dent in the body of the vehicle and a hole in his tire.

How that relates to the prostitution charge was not immediately clear.

Hayes, an eight-year veteran of the Northwest Police Department, tendered his resignation to Chief Copelan Taylor on Tuesday, Taylor said.

"I have some issues I need to attend to in my personal life," Hayes wrote in the two-sentence resignation provided to the StarNews by Taylor.

The chief said the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation contacted him Saturday to say that Hayes was being investigated. Taylor said he put Hayes on 30 days of paid leave that night.

According to Jennifer Canada, spokeswoman for the SBI, the investigation into Hayes followed a request from the Boiling Spring Lakes Police Department, which recently arrested two men in connection with a prostitution investigation that began there in November 2012.

On May 4, Boiling Spring Lakes police arrested Kyle Bradley Wolfe, 20, and Shawn Christopher Conley, 20, on charges of prostitution of a minor.

Boiling Spring Lakes Police Chief Brad Shirley said at the time of the arrests the investigation involved advertisements on the Internet via different social media websites. The warrant for Hayes names the same 17-year-old girl as the warrants for Wolfe and Conley.

Hayes has a misdemeanor death by vehicle conviction on his record from May 1991 in New Hanover County.

According to an article in the Wilmington Morning Star, Hayes was 16 when the car he was driving ran into the back of a vehicle on Gordon Road. His 14-year-old girlfriend, Jennifer Allen, was killed and two others – Sharon Shivar, 15, and Kevin Francis Dwyer, 16 – were injured. The group was on the way to school at Laney High, the article states.

Hayes was convicted of the misdemeanor in August 1993.

Chief Taylor said he was unaware of the incident, but it would not have prevented Hayes from becoming a police officer.

Two New York Troopers Suspended for Prostitution

Two more New York State Troopers were suspended without pay Thursday night in connection with a prostitution investigation.

Jeremy Smith, 34, and Michael Petritz, 33, both of Troop T Henrietta, are accused of engaging in misconduct.

The investigation began in December, and kicked off with Titus Taggart, 41, of Troop T Buffalo.

According to State Police, Taggart is under investigation for allegedly organizing parties that may have promoted prostitution while off-duty.

Taggart is an 18-year veteran of the force, while Smith and Petritz have 18 combined years with State Police.

Officer Sheldon Czegledi Arrested for Prostitution

A Phoenix police officer was arrested during a prostitution sting in El Paso, Texas. The El Paso County Sheriff's Office Strike Team arrested Officer Sheldon Czegledi, 47, along with 14 others. According to a sheriff's office report, Czegledi approached a deputy working undercover as a decoy/female prostitute Friday night and solicited the deputy for sexual intercourse for a fee of $45. Czegledi then drove his vehicle into the parking lot of a motel. According to the report, he gave the deputy $5 as a deposit and stated he would return. Other deputies conducted a traffic stop and took Czegledi into custody. Czegledi is a 14-year veteran of the Phoenix Police Department and is currently assigned as a patrol officer at Central City Precinct. Sgt. Steve Martos with the Phoenix Police Department said an administrative investigation will be launched.

Vice Officer Samuel Roccaforte Arrested for Tampering with Records

A Houston Police Department vice officer appeared in court this morning after being arrested during the weekend on two charges of tampering with a government record in connection with a prostitution arrest.

Samuel Anthony Roccaforte, 57, is accused of arresting a woman for prostitution and filing a false police record about what the 45-year-old said in her bedroom.

The woman, whose prostitution charges have been dropped, protested being arrested for offering sex in exchange for money.

On tape, the officer can be heard saying, “Well, you did, you know you did, I know you did. There's no audio, there's no video. It's gonna be my word against yours and who do you think they're going to believe?” according to court records.

Documents show Roccaforte called the woman after seeing an advertisement with her phone number on a website. The woman invited the officer to her apartment and once inside, into her bedroom, where she invited him to place a donation on a table.

Because Roccaforte began asking questions about having sex for money, the woman believed he was a police officer, the charging document shows. She said she did not provide that type of service.

Roccaforte arrested the woman for prostitution and wrote that she agreed to have sex for $200.

Roccaforte is free after posting $4,000 bond Sunday. Both charges stem from the same incident. The state jail felony is punishable by a maximum of two years behind bars.

Harris County records show that the woman has been convicted of DWI and was placed on deferred adjudication for drug possession.

Roccaforte's attorney Chip Lewis said he had not heard the tape.

“Our preliminary investigation directly contradicts the state's version,” Lewis said. “However, I will not be able to be more specific until we've had an opportunity to review the evidence.”

Calls to HPD were not immediately returned.

Former Chief Michael Meissner Charged with 7 Felonies

A former Texas police chief is behind bars charged with seven felony counts, including possession or promotion of child pornography, promotion of prostitution and engaging in organized crime.

Michael Meissner was arrested Monday in Arlington and is being held at the Dallas County Jail under a $1.5 million bail. Attempts by The Associated Press Tuesday to reach the jail to determine if he has an attorney were not immediately successful.

Meissner is accused of committing the crimes in Dallas and Tarrant counties.

He had been police chief in Little River-Academy, located about 150 miles south of Dallas, earlier this year. Little River-Academy Mayor Ronnie White said both parties ended the job by mutual agreement.

Meissner has reportedly held more than 10 law enforcement jobs in the last 18 years.
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Other Information: http://www.kten.com/Global/story.asp?S=11137251

Former Officer Michael Meissner Held on Numerous Felony Charges

A former police officer who worked for over a dozen departments in Texas is behind bars Tuesday, held on numerous felony charges including engaging in organized criminal activity, promotion of prostitution, solicitation of minors and two counts of attempting to possess child pornography.

Activist and filmmaker Barry Cooper, who is producing a reality show called “KopBusters,” aided officers with the Combine Police Department in drawing the man out into the open, ultimately helping wrap a three-year investigation in the process.

Until late last month, Michael Meissner, 39, was chief of police in Little River-Academy, Texas, a town so small that it only had one officer. He resigned his post after residents of the small town packed city hall with complaints about his behavior, according to local reports.

Meissner called the town “a good stepping stone for me,” reported Temple Daily News, which noted that the former officer held 18 different law enforcement jobs over the last 14 years. The “gypsy cop,” said Dallas television station WFAA, “seemed to operate under his own rules, spending much of his time working off-duty security jobs 60 miles away in Dallas.”

Prior WFAA reports “found that Meissner had used a phony college diploma for certification and failed to let his employers know that he had been arrested twice,” the network added.

Combine police were initially probing Meissner over suggestions that he had misused official information to retaliate against another man. However, when they looked at Meissner’s text messages and e-mail, they claim to have discovered something much worse.

“When the affidavits are released, the public is going to be shocked,” said Cooper, speaking to reporters outside Meissner’s home. “The conversation and the lewd conduct he’s been involved in with high school boys. As an ex-police officer, it makes me sick that we’ve got a guy running around here in a badge, that the public is supposed to trust, and he’s using that uniform to breach the trust of the younger citizens in the community. It’s horrible.”

Two of Meissner’s neighbors additionally told RAW STORY they had repeatedly seen various teenage boys entering and leaving the residence.

“Man, I’m just glad police are doing their job, they’re heroes,” said next door neighbor Brenda Lambert. “Anyone that messes with children needs to be taken care of.”

“We don’t regret hiring him or letting him go,” Little River Mayor Ronnie White told the Daily News when Meissner resigned last month. “We will find another officer.”

Tactical officers, who had set up a staging area just one street from Meissner’s Arlington, Texas home, raided the residence at approximately 1:45 p.m. on Monday, but the suspect was gone.

He was arrested later that evening after returning to his home. Meissner actually called Cooper to warn that his that his home had apparently been raided. Cooper then called police and relayed Meissner’s location.

A judge has set Meissner’s bond at $1.5 million.

Cooper says he was in this instance an undercover journalist and police informant, who had befriended Meissner under the false pretense that he wanted to use KopBusters for the purpose of clearing his name.

For the man whose living is paid for by a DVD series on how to grow, sell and smuggle marijuana without being detected by the police, he certainly seemed to have a natural rapport with the officers on-scene.

One of them even asked Cooper how his former law enforcement mentor in Odessa was doing.

“Oh man, he was a legend back in my day,” he replied. “Unfortunately, he planted meth on an innocent woman and I had to bust him.”

After officers kicked in Meissner’s door and cordoned off his home, the front yard became what seemed to be Cooper’s first campaign stop in what he says is a serious run for Texas attorney general. He even put on a suit before heading to the location with reporters and his camera crew in-tow.

“Within a short time, we hope to have a corrupt police chief in jail for seven felony warrants [for] harming kids,” he told reporters. “I acted as a undercover journalist-informant, they listed me as the informant on the arrest affidavit. I befriended this officer and made him believe that I was his friend and that I wanted to clear his name. The truth was, I was relaying all that information to the Combine police department.”

Cooper continued: “As an ex-narcotics officer, I’ve experienced corruption and seen it myself. My wife suggested that I use my experience to go and start busting corrupt police officers instead of citizens. That’s when we formed ‘KopBusters,’ a reality TV show. We’re hoping to have 13 episodes up on [...] TV very soon. I feel [passionate] about my job, and we’re using these stings so I can win Texas attorney general in 2010, because in that position I can expose police corruption even further, take their salaries and begin paying police officers six-figure incomes … The one’s that deserve it.”

Steve Allen, police chief in Combine, Texas, called Cooper’s brand of law enforcement activism an “excellent resource.”

“Police officers need all the help they can get,” he said. “There’s a lot of things, for example, [Barry] may have drawn him out of the woodwork for us — something that we couldn’t do that he did. So, I think [KopBusters] is an excellent resource and tool for us.”

In December, Cooper and his team of lawyers and investigators staged a sting on the Odessa, Texas police department, setting up a fake marijuana grow house and baiting officers to raid it without proper legal authorization. It was the first of what Cooper promises to be many future operations against allegedly dirty police.

This video was captured by a cameraman with Barry Cooper’s KopBusters on Sept. 14, 2009.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jP6xegUf3-E

Deputy Paul Wagner Charged with Soliciting Prostitution

A rookie Marion County Jail guard was arrested and accused of soliciting sex from a customer at a gas station where he moonlights on security duty.

Deputy Paul Wagner, 25, was charged preliminarily with soliciting prostitution and official misconduct while working at the Speedway station in the 5100 block of East Washington Street, said Col. John Layton of the Marion County Sheriff's Department.

Wagner was under surveillance by the Sheriff's Department when he offered a female customer a candy bar and Coke or a pack of cigarettes for oral sex, authorities said. Layton said the woman, who was not a prostitute but a regular customer at the gas station, had complained that Wagner had harassed her before.

The Sheriff's Department set up the sting and arrested Wagner early Saturday.

Wagner was charged with official misconduct because he was wearing his sheriff's uniform at the time.

Wagner has been with the department for 10 months and was suspended without pay.

Moonlighting by Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers, more than half of whom work second jobs, has come under close scrutiny over concerns the system in place now leaves the city open to safety and liability issues, as well as embarrassing or even potentially criminal instances of corruption.

Detention Officer Jillian Lybarger Charged with Prostitution

PHOENIX

A 23-year-old Maricopa County Sheriff's Office detention officer has been arrested by Phoenix police and charged with prostitution in connection with a second wave of arrests in the Desert Divas case, said Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Jillian Lybarger was placed on administrative leave shortly after Wednesday's arrest, Arpaio said.

She was booked into the Fourth Avenue Jail and was released on her own recognizance.

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http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/138914

Couple Suing Police for Beating their 12-year-old Daughter

A Galveston couple is suing three police officers who they say arrested and beat their 12-year-old daughter after mistaking her for a prostitute.

The officers have filed documents saying their conduct was reasonable in light of the facts they had at the time. Named as defendants are Galveston Police Sgt. Gilbert Gomez and Officers David Roark and Sean Stewart.

Bill Helfand, an attorney for the officers, stressed that the lawsuit allegations have yet to be proven.

"If you go to the courthouse and read any complaint, the allegations are always bombastic," Helfand said. "There's nothing about the allegations that makes them true, just because they've been made."

The suit was filed against the officers individually, not the city of Galveston or the Police Department, on August 22, the last day to file before the statute of limitations ran out.

According to a lawsuit filed in federal court in Galveston, Dymond Larae Milburn went outside her home in the 2000 block of 24th to flip a circuit breaker about 7:45 p.m. on Aug. 22, 2006.

Responding to a call that three white prostitutes were soliciting in the neighborhood, the plainsclothes officers jumped out of an unmarked van on Gomez's orders and one of them grabbed the girl, who is black, the lawsuit states.

The girl contends that the officers did not identify themselves as police and that the officer who grabbed her, later identified as Roark, told her, "You're a prostitute. You're coming with me."

Her parents, Wilfred and Emily Milburn, heard her cries for help and came outside to see the hysterical girl hanging on to a tree and screaming "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" while two officers hit her in the head, face and throat, the family alleges.

One officer hit the girl in the back of the head with a flashlight during the incident, the lawsuit alleges. The police then left the scene.

Two hours later, Dymond Milburn was examined at the University of Texas Medical Branch emergency room and doctors found she had a sprained wrist, two black eyes, a bloody nose and blood in an ear, according to the lawsuit.

Weeks later, the girl was arrested during classes at Austin Middle School, where she was an honors student, the lawsuit states. She was tried a year later on a charge of resisting arrest, but the judge declared a mistrial on the first day, according to the lawsuit.

Anthony Griffin, the attorney for the Milburns, said the mistrial stemmed from a remark by an officer on the witness stand. A new trial is scheduled for February.

Wilfred Milburn was arrested the next day for interfering with police and assaulting an officer in connection with the incident involving his daughter. Police also found drugs in Milburn's car, Griffin said. He said Milburn pleaded guilty to possession of drugs in exchange for having the other charges dropped.

The Milburn family is asking for unspecified damages for physical injuries and emotional problems.

Helfand said the actions were justifiable, given what the officers knew at the time.

Because the Milburn family never filed any complaint with the police department, the incident was not investigated. The officers remain on the force, a spokesman said.

D.C. Officer Arrested in Prostitution Sting

WASHINGTON

District of Columbia police say they have arrested a Secret Service officer during a prostitution sting.

WUSA-TV reports D.C. police Inspector Brian Bray says his squad was conducting a prostitution sting around 11th and K streets in northwest Washington early Saturday. He says a marked Secret Service Uniformed Division patrol car pulled up to speak with an undercover female officer posing as a prostitute.

The Secret Service sergeant, who was in uniform, allegedly inquired what sex acts the undercover officer would perform. They agreed on a price of $20, and he drove to meet her. But then D.C. police arrested and charged him with solicitation for the propose of prostitution.

Darrin Blackford, a Secret Service spokesman, says the agency's internal affairs division is investigating the matter. He says the officer, whose name was not released, has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

Information from: WUSA-TV, http://www.wusatv9.com

Officer Pleads Guilty to Attempted Kidnapping of 13-year-old

NEW YORK

Prosecutors say a New York City police detective accused of forcing a 13-year-old runaway into prostitution has resigned from the force and pleaded guilty to attempted kidnapping.

Wayne Taylor initially said he was "100 percent innocent" of keeping the teen as a captive and compelling her to sell herself at parties last winter.

But Queens prosecutors say the 35-year-old officer and 29-year-old accomplice Zelika Brown pleaded guilty to the same charge Thursday. They face 3 1/2-year prison terms.

Brown also originally contested the charges. Her lawyer challenged statements authorities said she made to them.

Prosecutors say about 20 men paid Taylor and Brown $40 to $80 for sex with the girl.

Taylor was an officer for about 14 years.

Indianapolis Officer and his Wife accused Running Prostitution Ring

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.

Officer and His Wife Accused in Prostitution Ring

GREENWOOD, Ind.

A former police officer and his wife have been accused of running a prostitution ring out of their home, where he allegedly collected cash from the prostitutes while in uniform.

Former Indianapolis police officer Jeremy Lee faces a charge of aiding in promoting prostitution.

Lee was fired Wednesday after the charge was filed against him in Johnson County, just south of Indianapolis.

"We're disturbed by his conduct; we're ashamed of him," said Indianapolis Police Chief Michael Spears, who added that the investigation was started by his department.

Lee, 30, would collect money from prostitutes hired by his wife, Lori Vernon-Lee, while wearing his police uniform, according to court documents.

Arrest warrants were issued Wednesday for the couple and Jerry L. McCory, 56, a Marion County Sheriff's Department employee who faces a misdemeanor count of patronizing a prostitute.

Vernon-Lee, 36, is charged with five felony counts of promoting prostitution for allegedly operating the illegal escort service from home in the Indianapolis suburb of Greenwood, according to an affidavit.

Vernon-Lee was being held in Johnson County Jail late Wednesday night on $40,000 bond, said a jail officer. McCory was released earlier on $2,000 bond. Lee was not in custody, the officer said. WTHR TV reported that Lee was in Massachusetts and had been contacted and told to surrender to authorities there.

Vernon-Lee allegedly recruited women to serve as escorts and then advertised their services in a weekly Indianapolis newspaper.

When clients called Vernon-Lee's escort service, she allegedly would arrange for a meeting between client and one of the escorts during which money was exchanged for various sex acts.

Each escort would turn over part of the money she collected -- typically about half -- to Vernon-Lee, whose husband would collect the cash while in his police uniform, the affidavit states.