Dept Lied to Keep 738,000 Records Secret on Network of Pedophile Cops in Explorer Program
Inside information into the years-long child sex abuse saga involving Louisville Metropolitan Police Department (LMPD) officers was not at all easy to obtain and now we know why. The department hid 738,000 records documenting the sexual abuse of Explorer Scouts by officers — and then, according to records requested by the Courier Journal, lied to keep the files from the public.
According to the Journal, last year, the newspaper requested all records regarding the sexual abuse of minors by LMPD officers involved in the Explorer program, a program for children who are interested in becoming cops. However, police claimed that they couldn’t turn over the records, telling the Journal that they had already been turned over to the FBI.
“LMPD does not have possession or control of the records,” LMPD records custodian Alicia Smiley wrote in a Sept. 3, 2019, letter to Assistant Attorney General Marcus Jones. “When the investigation was taken by the FBI, all copies of the investigative materials … were physically removed from the premises, digital devices and servers of LMPD.”
But that was a lie, the LMPD had hundreds of thousands of records on child sexual abuse by officers in the Explorer program.
According to the Journal, the department still had at least 738,000 records, which the city allowed to be deleted.
The records detail the actions taken — or rather not taken — when the department learned about the sexual abuse of children in the program.
“I have practiced open records law since the law was enacted 45 years ago, and I have never seen anything so brazen,” said Jon Fleischaker, an attorney for The Courier Journal. “I think it an outrage.”
Another lawyer for The Courier Journal, Michael Abate, said the city’s conduct was especially egregious given the case involves the sexual abuse of children by police officers and the department’s failure to prevent it.
Metro Council President David James said Wednesday, according to the Journal, that “it’s very disturbing to me that either the county attorney’s office or the police department was so dead-set on making sure those records never reached the public.”
Councilman Anthony Piagentini, R-19th, said, “There aren’t the appropriate words to describe how indefensible this is. The administration oversaw the sexual exploitation of minors and then deleted evidence.”
Jean Porter, a spokesman for Mayor Greg Fischer, said his “focus is getting to the truth in this horrific case.”
“Issues of ownership for records in an investigation led by a federal task force are not as clear as your newspaper would suggest,” she said in a statement. “The mayor is awaiting the independent review being conducted for the Jefferson County Attorney’s office before deciding next steps, and he remains committed to releasing all documents that the law allows.”
The lawsuits against the other officers as well as the criminal investigations are all still pending.
https://thefreethoughtproject.com/explorers-secret-progran/