Judge Denies Release for Former D.C. Police Officer Charged With Child Sex Abuse

By Carrie McDonald [former] - July 19, 2022
Court | Daily Stories | Documents | Sex Abuse | Sexual Assault | Suspects | Victims |

DC Superior Court Judge Robert Okun denied releasing a former Metropolitan Police Department officer on July 18. He also rescheduled the officer’s preliminary hearing.  

A former Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officer is charged with two-counts of child sex abuse in connection to the repeated sexual abuse of an 11-year-old girl from January 2020 to September 2021. Court documents state that the offenses started when the victim was nine years old. 

The 28-year-old defendant was arrested on July 14. He had been a MPD officer since 2019. 

According to court documents, the victim’s mother reported the abuse to authorities when her daughter revealed that she wanted to commit suicide and disclosed the crimes done to her on July 8. The victim stated that the defendant raped her, forcing his penis into her mouth and anus, and touched her breasts 20-30 times while her mother was asleep or absent. She told police that the defendant told her that “it was a game.”

The victim’s mother had previously been in a romantic relationship with the defendant and had lived with him from November 2019 to September 2021 on the 1600 block of V Street, SE, where the victim stated the crimes were committed. The victim said the defendant threatened to kill her and her mother if she reported the abuse. 

At the July 18 hearing, the prosecution told Judge Okun that additional discovery was introduced and the defense needed more time to review it. To give the defense more time to review, Judge Okun rescheduled the preliminary hearing for Aug. 3 at 10:30 a.m. The prosecutor said she is expecting to call one witness. 

Defense attorney Steven Kiersch introduced a motion to release the defendant under the High Intensity Supervision Program, arguing that the defendant’s position as a former officer “poses significant problems for him” in the jail, despite the precautionary measure taken to segregate him from other inmates. 

Kiersch requested that the defendant be released to his home in Northwest D.C. He said the defendant’s father has been an MPD officer for 25 years and that the defendant’s brother is also on the force. Multiple family members were present in court during the proceedings.

Kiersch also said the defendant’s history as a MPD officer meant that “he is an asset to the community.” 

“There is no evidence whatsoever besides this recent charge that he is a danger to the community,” Kiersch said. “All we have is allegations … Quite frankly this is not a strong case.”

The prosecution rebutted, highlighting that this is a strong case because the 11-year-old victim, who was known to the defendant, provided a very detailed account of the crimes, including precise descriptions of sexual acts that no 11-year-old should ever be familiar with. 

“This is a pattern of sexual abuse that occurred over years,” the prosecutor said. 

The defendant’s position as a former MPD officer should work against him, according to the prosecution. The prosecutor said the defendant’s position as a police officer, which granted him access to a gun, dissuaded the victim from coming forward sooner.

“He abused his power,” the prosecutor said.

Judge Okun ultimately denied the motion for release, citing the strong “weight of the evidence” and the “nature and circumstances of the case.”

He did, however, grant the defense’s request to issue a recommendation to transfer the defendant to Northern Neck Regional Jail in Warsaw, Va., on the grounds that the move will reduce the threat to the defendant’s safety.