Seattle Police Officer Arrested, Accused Of Sexually Molesting A Young Girl
A 20 year veteran with the Seattle police department is accused of sexually molesting a young girl and was subsequently arrested on Monday and booked into Snohomish County Jail.
The officer is accused of molesting his former girlfriend’s daughter on several occasions between 2009 and 2013, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
The officer, 57-year-old Eric Smith, works in the department’s traffic division.
Image: KOMO
Smith was arrested on Monday following a two week investigation into the case. He’s now facing charges of first degree child molestation and communicating with a minor for immoral purposes, KOMO News reports.
The victim in the case was between 7 and 11-years old when the alleged crimes were committed, deputies say.
Smith’s neighbor Bryan Leonard said, “Well it’s a little shocking. You never want to hear that of someone who’s a neighbor. I hope for the girl’s sake, the little girl’s sake, it’s false.”
On June 18th, Seattle police officials were made aware of the investigation and immediately put the officer on administrative leave, according to police.
The investigation is ongoing.
“Obviously they want the investigation to be thorough, but they want to move quickly,” Shari Ireton with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, said.
Watch courtesy of KOMO News:
Rusty Shackleford July 1st, 2014 at 11:35 am
Is there something about the position of easily-exploited power with minimal oversight that ATTRACTS pigs to become cops, or is there something about giving people this power that makes them into pigs?