Current:Home > Contact-usOhio police response to child’s explicit photos sparks backlash and criticism over potential charges-LoTradeCoin
Ohio police response to child’s explicit photos sparks backlash and criticism over potential charges
View Date:2024-12-23 16:58:17
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A Columbus police officer repeatedly asserts that an 11-year-old girl could be charged with creating child sexual abuse images of herself and sending those pictures to an adult man, in body camera footage obtained by The Associated Press.
The footage sheds more light on an interaction between officers and a parent concerned about his child’s safety who was told that his daughter could face charges despite being a victim. The parent posted to TikTok a now-viral security video of the conversation, which has generated widespread criticism of the police’s response.
Two officers responded to a call on Sept. 15 from a father who said hours earlier that he had found photos and messages on his daughter’s phone. He asked for a female officer to talk to his daughter.
The officers’ conduct is being investigated, as well as any crime that may have been committed against the girl, Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant said in a statement Tuesday. She also said the department reached out to apologize to the father.
Police have not released the father’s name and the AP does not identify victims of alleged sexual abuse or domestic violence. He didn’t immediately respond to phone messages or on social media from the AP on Wednesday seeking comment.
WHAT OFFICERS SAID
Both the security video and the audio from the redacted body camera footage show the officers talking with the father outside his home after midnight.
He tells the officers his daughter is already asleep, and that he had hoped they could help talk to her about the seriousness of the situation. The female officer quickly tells him that his daughter could be charged with creating sexually explicit content.
The father protests and says that she’s a child who was manipulated by an adult, according to the police report and the father’s TikTok video. The officer asks him if she was taking pictures, and the father ends the conversation.
In audio of the body camera footage, the female officer can be heard asserting again as she walks away from the house, “She’s taking pictures of herself naked. She’s creating child porn.”
In a statement Tuesday, the police chief repeatedly referred to the 11-year-old as the victim of a crime. She said that the officers’ conduct did not live up to her expectations that officers “treat every victim of crime with compassion, decency and dignity.”
WHAT RECORDS SHOW
The AP obtained the incident report, audio from the father’s police call and a dispatch log with notes called in from the responding officers.
According to the dispatch log, the father called 911 around 6:50 p.m. on Sept. 14, and was told they would send a female officer. He called again at about 7:50 p.m. to say the response was taking too long. Officers showed up at the family’s home more than five hours later, after midnight on Sept. 15.
Video footage shows the father informing the officers his daughter is asleep and saying he wasn’t sure what they could do.
The police report identifies the officers as Kelsie Schneider and Brian Weiner. A number listed for Schneider went straight to voicemail. Weiner answered a call but asked a reporter not to contact him.
The notes from officers in the log and in the incident report place blame on the father for ending the conversation before they could discuss possible outcomes, saying he became “immediately upset.”
The incident report also lists the possible charge under investigation as “pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor” for creating or producing material, and cites a portion of the Ohio law that prohibits the creation, recording or publishing of child sexual abuse materials. A separate portion of the law that wasn’t cited prohibits knowingly soliciting, receiving, purchasing or possessing that material.
REMAINING QUESTIONS
Despite the police chief’s statement referring to the child as a victim, Columbus police have not responded to questions about whether she could still face charges.
A police spokesperson has also not answered whether any other children have faced charges in Columbus under Ohio’s laws about child sexual abuse material. It was unclear whether the department has a policy regarding charging minors with those crimes.
Police said the actions of the officers was referred to the Inspector General’s office and are under review.
One of the responding officers wrote in the incident report that she had contacted detectives in the sexual assault section, citing “the severity of the crime and the lack of cooperation” and had been advised to “take a miscellaneous incident report.” It was unclear why an officer from the sexual assault section or child exploitation division did not respond to the call as well as why the response was so delayed. ___
Samantha Hendrickson is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
veryGood! (3978)
Related
- 'Dangerous and unsanitary' conditions at Georgia jail violate Constitution, feds say
- College football's cash grab: Coaches, players, schools, conference all are getting paid.
- The arrest of a former aide to NY governors highlights efforts to root out Chinese agents in the US
- There's no SSI check scheduled for this month: Don't worry, it all comes down to the calendar
- Timothée Chalamet Details How He Transformed Into Bob Dylan for Movie
- Election 2024 Latest: Trump and Harris focus on tax policy ahead of next week’s debate
- A prosecutor asks for charges to be reinstated against Alec Baldwin in the ‘Rust’ case
- Ex-Green Beret behind failed Venezuela raid released pending trial on weapons charges
- 2025 Medicare Part B premium increase outpaces both Social Security COLA and inflation
- Orlando Bloom Has the Perfect Response to Katy Perry's NSFW Comments About Sex and Housework
Ranking
- A herniated disc is painful, debilitating. How to get relief.
- A Minnesota man whose juvenile murder sentence was commuted is found guilty on gun and drug charges
- The Justice Department is investigating sexual abuse allegations at California women’s prisons
- Officials confirm 28 deaths linked to decades-long Takata airbag recall in US
- Why Game of Thrones' Maisie Williams May Be Rejoining the George R.R. Martin Universe
- Jimmy McCain, a son of the late Arizona senator, registers as a Democrat and backs Harris
- What to Know About Rebecca Cheptegei, the Olympic Runner Set on Fire in a Gasoline Attack
- Jury selection will begin in Hunter Biden’s tax trial months after his gun conviction
Recommendation
-
Nicole Kidman Reveals the Surprising Reason for Starring in NSFW Movie Babygirl
-
How to convert VHS to digital: Bring your old tapes into the modern tech age
-
How to convert VHS to digital: Bring your old tapes into the modern tech age
-
Lala Kent Gives Birth, Welcomes Baby No. 2
-
'Bizarre:' Naked man arrested after found in crawl space of California woman's home
-
Team USA's Tatyana McFadden wins 21st career Paralympic medal
-
Nvidia, chip stocks waver after previous day's sell-off
-
Applications for US jobless benefits fall to 2-month low as layoffs remain at healthy levels