Former MPD Officer Charged With Child Sex Abuse Released from Virginia Jail

By Grace Guzzo [former] , Mark Lu [former] - October 14, 2022
Court | Daily Stories | Domestic Violence | Sex Abuse | Sexual Assault | Suspects | Victims |

A defendant, who was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree child sex abuse on July 14 for continuously assaulting a child aged 9 to 11 between January 2020 and September 2021, was released from a Virginia jail.

On Oct. 13, DC Superior Court Judge Robert Okun released the 28-year-old defendant on his own personal recognizance under the High-Intensity Supervision Program (HISP). 

The police warrant describing the alleged offenses was not available via the public court document portal. DC Witness obtained a copy from official court sources.

The allegations described in the warrant cover one to two years but another witness reported the victim told them the abuse lasted three.

According to court documents,  the defendant would ask the victim, his stepdaughter, to wear a blindfold and play a taste-testing game. The defendant would allegedly place his penis in her mouth.

On later occasions, the defendant reportedly assaulted the victim without a blindfold for the game. The victim also told officers at the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) that the defendant would grope her, which sometimes led to anal sex.

The victim said she was assaulted when her mother left the house. She also reported the defendant would feed melatonin gummies to her brother to keep him asleep. She told police she was afraid of the defendant because he threatened to shoot her, her mother and her brother if she said anything about the abuse. The victim also reported she tried to kill herself on July 8 and wrote about her abuse in a diary. 

“You know,” she wrote in a July 11 entry documented by MPD, “life is a goddang horror show. NO ONE feels what i feel [sic] … CJ raped me…i feel traumatized…it’s like im trapped in a box. the person that is supposed to love me and protecting me..i miss you grandma… [sic]”.

MPD Youth and Family Services Department detectives were able to corroborate the victim’s story through witness statements from the victim’s mother, who found the blindfold described by the victim—red on one side, black on the other, made of satin or silk—in the victim’s closet. The victim also said she told her friends but then retracted, saying she was “kidding.”

Defense lawyer Steven Kiersch filed two motions to suppress evidence at the beginning of October, arguing the request for witness statements and the defendant’s iCloud data were overboard, and a violation of the defendant’s constitutional rights. A judge has yet to rule on this motion.

On July 15, DC Superior Court Judge Tanya Bosier rejected a request for pretrial release and held the defendant in custody. According to court documents, U.S. Marshals contacted the court on July 27 requesting the defendant be held somewhere other than the DC Jail due to safety concerns.

Judge Bosier granted the request on July 18, modifying the initial commitment order to recommend the defendant be transferred to Northern Neck Regional Jail in Virginia.

In a motion for release, Kiersch stated there was no DNA or forensic evidence linking the defendant to the allegations. Kiersch said his client was a 25-year veteran of the MPD and offered several references to family and friends who penned letters testifying to the defendant’s good character and saying they would all show up to his preliminary hearing.

Kiersch also emphasized that the defendant has no prior arrests or criminal offenses.

Judge Okun found probable cause for both of counts of first degree child sex abuse when prosecutors presented evidence during a preliminary hearing on Aug. 17.

The case is pending a Grand Jury indictment. A jury trial has been scheduled for March 27, 2023.