Who to Call when Bad Guys Are Cops-Calling All Blogers-Need your help
Who to call when the bad guys are the Cops-Calling all Blogers-We need your help. November 8, 2005
This case is a ticking time bomb. Please read the following story. Cut and paste pieces and please send to the following media folks listed at the bottom of the story. If enough emails are sent in outrage, then these types of crimes will be dealt with because the media and the public will be watching their every move. Please rememeber, these are police officers sworn to serve and protect,instead crimes are being committed, and this time it involves a child.
The story talks about Sgt. Billy Shelton, who is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He is accused of trying to intimidate a witness who planned to come forward with the molestation allegations. Shelton, who serves as a D.A.R.E. officer, he is on paid administrative leave during the investigation...That's certainly nice that he is being paid with taxpayer dollars. HAMMOND INDIANA
What triggered the investigationHAMMOND: Mother's concerns for justice, protection for her daughter at the heart of the callBY SUSAN BROWN sbrown@nwitimes.com 219.836.3780
Thursday, October 20, 2005 12:10 AM CDT HAMMOND It was a frantic phone call to police on the afternoon of Oct. 6 that launched investigations into the conduct of four Hammond police officers, two of whom are now the subjects of criminal investigations. The wife of one of the officers said she found her daughter cowering in her bedroom that afternoon. "I want to tell you something, but I'm so scared," the woman reported the child saying.
"You're going to be mad or go to jail." The woman said 45 minutes of coaxing persuaded the child to tell her mother that her stepfather, a Hammond police officer, had been coming into her bedroom while Mommy was sleeping. "As soon as she told me, I picked up the phone and called the police," the woman said. "I didn't care about him. She was showing me all kinds of things he's been doing to her." The woman said it took two calls to police and 25 minutes before police arrived at the house. "I encouraged them to get here because I couldn't be responsible for what I'd do," the woman said. "She's my baby."
"They talked to my daughter, who was crying," she said. "They treated her like a little adult. They didn't come down to the level she needed for her."
The woman said police appeared more concerned about a police officer being involved, repeatedly telling her he was one of their own. When her husband returned to the house, police did confront him, putting him inside a squad car, taking away his police gear and restricting him from coming into the house, she said. Police eventually freed the accused officer, who was told to find someplace else to go and report back to police, the woman said. One officer then accompanied the woman and the child to a local hospital, where Child Protective Services was contacted.
The child was examined and allowed to return home. The woman said those who had examined her daughter believed she had been molested. "They believe her, and I believe her," the woman said. Police said it was during interviews with the department's sex crime unit when investigators determined her husband and two other officers had been involved in sexual activities while the officers were on duty. Those alleged on-duty incidents are separate from the allegations of molestation. The on-duty incidents, said to have taken place at the police station and inside a car, were turned over for investigation by the department's Internal Affairs Division.
The incidents are unrelated to a summer cookout and a July lingerie party attended by a number of Hammond police officers. Police Sgt. Michael Jorden said police have found none of the conduct at the two affairs at the couple's home to have been illegal. "They were lingerie parties, not sex parties," the woman said. "(Police) confirmed no sex was going on there." The woman said all she was seeking in coming forward was justice and protection for her daughter. She has filed for divorce from the officer, she said. "I don't feel I have one thing to hide," she said. "I didn't ask for all that happened with these guys." "To do that with my daughter, that's sick. He has a very serious problem," the woman said.
The woman said her fears are compounded by an officer, now under criminal investigation, who attempted to thwart her cooperation with police by threatening her daughter. On a second visit to her home, the officer arrived with two other officers in black tactical gear, she said. "He told me my daughter would be going to school with one leg," she said.
Police confirm the officer is under investigation by the FBI for witness tampering.
Again, please try to cut and paste and send to each one of these media contacts listed above. It may save someone's life.
Susan Murphy Milano the author of "Moving Out, Moving On" when a relationship goes wrong and "Defending Our Lives" getting away from domestic violence and staying safe. Website: www.movingoutmovingout.com
