I circled back to the Washington Post tonight to check on their Abused by the Badge series, about how their investigation uncovered hundreds of law enforcement officers who sexually exploit kids and how many avoid prison time. There is a new article (December 18, 2024) about the “perfect predator”–Maypearl, Texas Police Chief Kevin Coffey, who groomed an entire town.
Abused by the Badge, The “Perfect” Predator. Sorry, subscribers only and it is one of those graphics-filled online articles that isn’t going to print out correctly. I took a big break from the WAPO and just re-upped my subscription tonight. You should find a way to read this reporting–it is enlightening and shocking.
It is no real surprise this man was a police chief. It’s not like agency heads never engage in these crimes. “A Post investigation identified 47 heads of law enforcement agencies who were charged with crimes involving child sexual abuse from 2005 through 2022. Three-quarters of them worked in departments with less than 10 cops.”
“Speaking out against law enforcement is especially difficult in small towns, where cops are deeply embedded in the communities they serve. For the residents, there are often fewer avenues to lodge misconduct complaints and less protection from retaliation.” Same with suburban towns. Like Oxford or Berkley, Michigan, for just two examples.
And I’d say almost no protection from retaliation. That’s why it’s amazing these stories have been uncovered and reported on by the Post.