Sexual Relationship With A Minor, Theft Of Services And Destruction Of Evidence Nets Police Officer One-Year Prison Sentence
from the and-that's-quite-possibly-not-the-worst-thing-about-the-situation dept
There are multiple levels of effed-upness in this story but we’ll start from the top.
Cincinnati police officer Darrell Beavers appears to have used his power and position to effect and perpetuate a sexual relationship with a minor. This went far beyond simply relying on the innate “trustworthiness” of the position.
Beavers, a Cincinnati police officer since 2002, set up a scheme, using his job as a police officer as bait, to send and receive 650 sexually explicit photos and texts with a minor and destroying an incriminating [police] cell phone once he knew he was being investigated.
Add to this the use of his position to coerce a local landlord into handing him over an apartment to use for his sexual trysts — free of charge — by claiming he was setting up a department “substation” to “fight crime in the area.”
Once Beavers, 45, had the apartment, it was adorned with an official Cincinnati Police logo as well as beds, bedding, personal lubricants, pornographic videos and a police-owned night-vision camera to record events that were happening in the dark.
Beavers is now an ex-officer and has been sentenced to prison. Thanks to a friendly plea deal and a recent law change, he will be facing a maximum of one year behind bars. That seems awfully low considering Beavers committed a sexual offense, destroyed evidence and falsely procured an apartment to be used solely to commit illegal acts with a minor.
But that’s not the only thing screwed up about this. Cue Beavers’ attorney, Carl Lewis:
Beavers’ attorney, Carl Lewis, believed the incident was a one-time “lapse of judgment” of an otherwise upstanding, respected police officer, husband, father of three and football and basketball coach.
“He said if this same activity had occurred with his daughter with another police officer, he would be angry, he would be upset,” Lewis said of Beavers.
No. A “one-time lapse of judgment” is having sex with an underage person by accident (or possibly on purpose) ONE TIME, and then NEVER DOING IT AGAIN. It is not stealing an apartment to use as a sex pad, sending and receiving 650 texts/photos over a period of three months, and then destroying evidence when investigators start closing in.
All the follow-up comment about Beavers being “upset” means is that his moral compass is as flexible as anybody’s. Double standards are distressingly common. They are not, however, indicators of latent “goodness.”
On to the next level of effed-upness.
A theft in office charge that would have resulted in Beavers losing any police pension was dropped as part of the plea deal.
Beavers will do some time, most likely return to his current employer (an oil pipeline) and his $70,000 salary, and still draw a pension when he hits retirement age.
Even more layers:
Beavers also fears the humiliation of being labeled a sexual predator, having to report his address for the next 15 years to the sheriff in the county where he will live.
Well, gee, former Officer Beavers. That sucks. But that’s what the system requires of other sex offenders, including the ones that don’t have access to favorable plea bargains and a taxpayer-funded pension to fall back on. Don’t forget, the list of sexual predators also tends to include teens who had consensual sex [statutory rape] and teens who passed around sexual photos of other teens [sexting] — teens who begin their trip through the “justice system” accompanied by officers like yourself. So, try to keep that chin up, Darrell.
And there’s still more. This wasn’t the only so-called “substation” under police officer control.
[Detective] Schofield noted police also found a previous fake substation in West Price Hill and wanted to ask Beavers about it but he refused.
“It was their belief,” Lewis said of police investigators, “that there are other Cincinnati police officers (who) have used, were using the so-called substations for other activity other than police work.”
So, there will be more indictments in the future?
Cincinnati said they aren’t investigating possible involvement by other officers.
Apparently, one officer being (minimally) punished is enough. Everything else can simply be ignored, for morale’s sake… or whatever. It wouldn’t do to have the Cincinnati PD portrayed by the media as a bunch of amoral jerks strong-arming landlords into providing them with rent-free crash pads from which to pursue their illicit aims.
By all other accounts, Beavers appeared to be an exemplary officer. But he used his position to take advantage of a 17-year-old member of the Cincinnati Police Explorer program. Even if the sexual contact was consensual, it was still illegal. Everything else he did — destroy evidence, commandeer an apartment — was far outside any legal or moral gray area. In the end, he’ll serve less than a year and enjoy a full pension. Other officers who may have abused their power or simply looked away while Beavers took advantage of his will emerge from this incident unscathed. And if they aren’t held accountable, there will be no reason for them to alter future behavior.
Filed Under: darrell beavers, destruction of evidence, police, punishment
Comments on “Sexual Relationship With A Minor, Theft Of Services And Destruction Of Evidence Nets Police Officer One-Year Prison Sentence”
Ten bucks says he’s put into protective custody while in jail, too. Former cop and a sex offender? He’d be a walking target in general population.
Re: Re:
shouldn’t he be ? ? ?
at least subject to what others are subject to, if not more punishment, er, rehabilitation MORE than most for violating a sworn oath/trust ?
that is the tradeoff: you are GIVEN enormous power and latitude over policing, with almost ZERO consequences for even murder; you are SUPPOSED to suffer draconian punishments when you violate that fiduciary duty, when you use your powers/office for personal profit/benefit…
EXCEPT, that isn’t how it happens most of the time, there are NO consequences; why shouldn’t this li’l piggy think he should go scot-free too ? ? ?
i have ZERO doubt this was a widespread ‘game’ by MANY officers, with MOST knowing something about it… i would bet dollars to donut holes (about the same price, actually) they were passing around videos of their conquests…
AND all the rest of the thin blue line of liars don’t say a fucking thing; they are either complicit, or it would lead to shit they were complicit in, or they all have shit on each other, or they are scared…
doesn’t matter why, the point is they enable the continuation of the deep corruption of the system…
wasn’t it less than a week ago, where some donut-eater was offering some sort of lame ‘rebuttal’ to the ‘kops are not your friend’ meme, er, true-life story, and his obviously unself-aware rant was talking about how much military-style training they had, how they had to practice shoot so much, how they needed all these war toys to keep the babies safe…
(‘we had to flashbang the baby in order to save it’… FUCKERS! ! ! )
his whole false article of faith, is that the way to ‘deal with’ the public he is SUPPOSED TO BE ‘protecting and serving’, is to get more violent, more deadly, more threatening, more invasive, more feared and hated…
here is the linchpin: it does NOT MATTER what us 99% want our police to be, it is what EMPIRE wants the police to be; and what they want are subservient, unquestioning, head-cracking goons who beat the people Empire points at…
Re: Re:
As well he should be. Put him in Gen Pop, the guards do their job just about as well as he did his.
Befudled
Am I reading that right? The Cincinnati police have branded personal lubricants and pornographic materials? Do they have a shopping cart on their website?
Re: Befudled
Their slogan is, “Won’t someone think of the children?”
And no one blinked twice when they saw his last name during the interview process…?
That should have been, at the very least, a yellow alert right there; why are they trying to use it to demonstrate his good character?
As I’ve said before on here, too many adults seem to have very fuzzy memories of high school. For those of you who don’t, think back for a moment. There are good kids and bad kids at every school, but where did you find the biggest concentration of thugs, bullies, and entitled teen sociopaths who think they ought to be treated like royalty and everyone else is beneath them?
If you answered “the football and basketball teams,” congratulations! You still remember what high school was like!
A lot of that is a cultural problem, but a lot more of it is directly abetted by the coaches, who actively work to ensure their players can continue to play, and win, no matter what they might have done to disqualify themselves… and not just academically. This builds up a culture of active shielding from accountability that is rampant in the NFL and even worse in the NBA, with far higher rates of serious, violent crimes among these athletes than the societal average. But it doesn’t start when you make it to the big leagues; the same problems are endemic to college and high school sports.
So yeah, this “fine upstanding guy” was a part of this disgusting and corrupt system, where he could easily use his influence as a policeman to help take the heat off of star players who did stuff they never should have done? No surprise there.
Darrell Beavers is a pedophile - yes that's true
I suggest that someone track his home address, and hand out fliers warning all the neighbors against this pedophile.
His familly deserve to be identified and their names and images should be Streisened forever.
Darrell Beavers and his wife and children should be outed on social networks and their profiles should be associated with a cop having abused his trust.
Darrell Beavers burn in hell with your family!
Nice that we don’t have a stupid right to be forgotten.
Under the crazy EU law, it would be illegal to repeat the fact that Darrell Beavers is a convicted criminal.
I hope not he gets raped and tortured in prison more than he deserves.
Re: Darrell Beavers is a pedophile - yes that's true
Why would someone support dragging the officer’s children further into this?
Is this a satire post?
Re: Darrell Beavers is a pedophile - yes that's true
The guy is a scumbag, no doubt there, but before you go off on your misguided vigilante justice assault, better check your definitions. Pedophilia is defined as sexual attraction to prepubescent children. His victim was 17, it’s highly unlikely they were prepubescent.
So handing out fliers branding him a pedophile would land you some handy defamation charges, and since you’re probably not a cop, you’d end up in jail far, far longer than he’ll spend over them.
Also, that crazy EU judgement (not a law!) would not protect Beavers either. Criminal convictions of this nature would remain in the public interest. Hell, some EU countries have sex registry requirements themselves (The UK does, not sure about others.)
Re: Re: Darrell Beavers is a pedophile - yes that's true
OTOH, some countries, like Germany, seal the records of people who have completed their sentences, the idea being that you’ve served your punishment and are hopefully rehabilitated, so you should get a chance to make a new start as an honest man.
Re: Re: Darrell Beavers is a pedophile - yes that's true
That’s fine, if you want to use the clinical definition of pedophilia instead of the popular one, I can roll with that. So, instead, we can just say that the officer abused his position to engage in statutory rape, or (if we want to be really nice), we can just say that he sexually abused at least one minor.
Re: Darrell Beavers is a pedophile - yes that's true
on one hand, the girl was 17
on the other, this is exactly what happens in most cases
Re: Darrell Beavers is a pedophile - yes that's true
“I hope not he gets raped and tortured in prison more than he deserves.”
and in the afterlife
Re: Darrell Beavers is a pedophile - yes that's true
While he is a slimeball, the age of consent in Ohio is 16, so he’s not a child molester in Ohio.
At least…
But hey, at least it was just the abuse of power, sexual assault a minor and destruction of evidence. Imagine, he could have infringed the copyright of others…that’s a capital offense carrying massive fines and prison-terms!
Re: At least…
simpler than that, be a non-piggy and see how many pointy sticks the DA is poking you with over the exact same circumstances…
no, i’m betting someone along the line of this little game that i have NO DOUBT was a lot more widespread, was a higher-up or politico or some other bigwig who got the whole thing squelched so it didn’t reveal their role in the scandal…
if it were a regular citizen, this would have been salacious headline/teevee ‘news’ dominating fodder for months…
but since it probably got too close to some bigwigs slimey doings, it was partially spiked…
(and, yes, i know, spel czech, you really want me to spell slime-y ‘slimy’… but i hate that, you’ve taken out the slime in ‘slimy’, so i spell it ‘slimey’, thank you very much for your otherwise useless concern, shitty spel czech)
Other legal consequences
If Darrell Beavers ever moves to another state, or has to fill out a form about any prior criminal conviction, his employer or even better the federal government will know he is a sex offender.
Giving a false answer to such a question may be a federal crime
And even more deserved, Darrell Beavers as a convicted felon is stripped of Second Amendment rights.
He can’t own, possess or buy any weapon due to federal prohibitions on gun ownership by felons.
Nice.
Re: Other legal consequences
Taking weapons away from cops – that’s the sort of ‘gun control’ I can get behind!
Other legal consequences
And because he has already been convicted, he can’t no longer plead the Fifth when asked by the government whether he has had sex with a minor.
And because truth is an absolute defense to an action for defamation it can never be defamation to repeat that Darrell Beavers was a cop who was convicted of abusing a minor.
Darrell Beavers is a strong argument against any right to be forgotten.
Under the laws of some less than free nations, you could not legally repeat the fact 10, 20 or 50 years after the final conviction.
Darrell Beavers is a pedophile - yes that's true
Because it’s of public concern that an abusive cop has children who may not know the truth about their criminal father.
It’s ordinary practice to ask the family of suspects intrusive questions in case there are other uncovered crimes.
And what’ s good enough for ordinary citizens is also well deserved for abusive cops.
Family of corrupt police officers should not get a better deal than families of drug dealers.
What a pathetic excuse for a human being with a clumsy attempt to humanize him as a “respected officer, husband, father of three and coach”. None of that means ANYTHING for this… thing. His deliberate planning of this whole situation and obstruction in this investigation should have him labeled as a sex offender without any pension as a minimum.
team building activity
Maybe his “police” co-workers covered his back because of the effectiveness of some of those “team building” activities they use in staff training and development.
Sounds like three strikes to me.
Im all for a double standard
people in a position of trust must be held to a higher standard
Federal crime
This sounds like something the feds should prosecute.
Sending and receiving child pornography is also a federal crime.
The only additional requirement under the federal child pornography statute is a nexus to interstate commerce, but that’s not difficult to prove.
Even if the offender and the victim are in the same
state, there is federal jurisdiction if the depictions have been sent over the internet.
Double jeopardy does not bar prosecution by the federal government even after a state guilty plea.
In theory if there was a will, the feds could prosecute Darrell Beavers for violation of federal statutes against child pornography and maybe obstruction of justice.
He should be held to a higher standard with steeper consequences, given the double standard in play here for these officers. How about total forfeiture of his pension as a start.
Re: Re:
He is a pedophile,so give him the same ‘treatment’ as other pedophiles who aren’t so lucky to be cops.
Ten years incarceration with other criminals, and lifetime felon disenfranchisement and mandatory sex offender registration and residential living restrictions.
No right to keep or bear arms, name always on the sex offender registry and no right to live in any locality.
The amount of child pornographic depictions is staggering, and if the severity level was calculated under federal law, possession alone would net him a harsher plea bargain.
But he was not only knowingly possessing child pornography, he was solicitating an underage girl and trying to cover up the crime.
No federal prosecutor would offer a plea bargain of one year imprisonment for multiple acts of possession, solicitation and distribution of child pornography.
Re: Re: Re:
ISTR that in some US jurisdictions, there are rules which convert seconds of video into numbers of photos, IIRC one state uses 3 seconds of video to a “depiction”, which would make 650 depictions around 32 minutes – which isn’t really very long for a minimally-edited video of a sex session.
Actually, looking back at TFA, the 650 was the number of photos and texts he tried to destroy, so it is quite likely that a lot of those were texts which were potentially incriminating but not directly pornographic.
Also, remember that fictional sexual stories about an underage person are not CP in the US, although sending them to a minor is a different crime, so if they were cybering that isn’t itself CP.
Re: Re:
I’d go further; for criminal malfeasance whilst on the job, he not only loses his pension, but is barred from personally claimiing state aid for ten years.
After all, that’s only marginally less than what happens to other sex offenders.
What’s with this string of hilariously named cops being caught doing bad things? First we had officer Glans slapping a man for refusing to consent to a vehicle search… then we had officer Wank shoving people during a traffic stop… and now, we have officer Beavers in this criminal smorgasbord.
Darrell Beavers is a pedophile - yes that's true
Defamation is not a crime in most states.
So no jail time but only a lawsuit even assuming (and that’s unlikely) that calling a child pornographer pedophile would qualify as defamation.
In order for a statement to be defamatory, it must be provable false.
And if the plaintiff is a public figure even on a matter of public controversy, he must prove that the statement was either recklessly or knowingly False.
The term pedophilia is commonly used in connection with child pornography and sexual exploitation of minors, and calling someone who has been convicted of child pornography pedophile is therefore likely not defamatory.
However, calling him convicted child pornographer is a true statement of fact and is not even a close call.
Do you seriously think that anyone guilty of child pornography would file a lawsuit on the let’s say dubious theory that Yes, I am a convicted child pornographer, but I’m not a pedophile?
You bet not.
Re: Darrell Beavers is a pedophile - yes that's true
Just because you might be able to get away with calling someone a “pedophile” (when they’re possibly an ephebophile); because you can label a 17-year-old a “child” (instead of just stating the simple facts that he/she is underage and the target of statutory rape); even though you have no fear of legal prosecution for jazzing it up to something more inflammatory… Why would you? Why use words that aren’t accurate?
Don’t get me wrong. I get it. This cop was and is a total scumbag. And yet, somehow, Mike’s fine, passionate article was able to get that reality across without the writer making up lies, fudging facts or creatively reinventing common terms. Officer Beavers did enough horrible shit that there’s no reason to stack the deck with extra crimes. I often see people stretching their case using misleading language, and then scoffing / laughing it off when called on their misrepresentations. It taints our cause (if our cause is justice, fairness and police accountability, instead of some junior Nancy Grace desire to jail everybody).
This casual disrespect for the terms you employ makes you sound irrational. It’s the rhetoric equivalent of ALL CAPS or screaming at passersby. And like all rhetorical shortcuts, its use eventually spreads throughout the population and becomes modern English.
Getting back to the OP: I don’t care what happens to the cop and his unnamed buddies – they deserve to fall hard instead of being rewarded with a blind eye or golden parachute. I do care about language. It’s about the next teenager prosecuted for sexting, forced onto a lifelong sex offender list… all because your words have ceased to mean what they pretend to mean.
Re: Re: pedophile?
In Canada like many other countries the age of consent is 16, what this douchebag did (the sex, at least) would not be illegal, would not be pedophilia. Presumably the other behavior – making video of someone under 18, scamming the department, destroying evidence, etc. – those would still be crimes.
The problem is the willingness of the DA to cut a sweet deal to save the effort of prosecution in this case. Was it favoritism? Leniency? Hiding dirty laundry? Would a non-cop get the same deal?
Leave it to Beaver.
Pension punishment
there are a number of cruel individuals that want to punish this copper to the extent police in the US persecute ordinary people, Though this is a result of a corrupt political system feeding of a primitive need for vengeance. Personally I prefer a more refined approach, and not punishing whatever family this scumbag might have.
so to this end.
He Worked as a policeman for all those years, the police department needs to be punished for hiring him, so they still pay-out the pension, Cost deducted from its budget.
He Does Not Deserve the Pension, but treat his family as if he had died, the pension goes direct to the wife & children, if he ever returns to live with them again, that pension is docked $4 for each dollar he earns.
Consider The Victims of his crime, 1. the young female, the bent cop used his position of power to obtain Sex, The Police Department should compensate her out of it’s budget because they hired the bent cop. 2. the owner of the flat, again compensated out of the police budget. 3. Public Trust in the police. don’t see how any police department could restore this.
The Cop Got of Too Light for the severity of his crimes, Because his punishment only seems to address the Sex Crime itself, the crimes of tampering/destroying evidence and obtaining valuable considerations by deception indicate a dangerous pattern of behavior which undermines the policeman’s entire history of Arrests.
If we follow the Logic, it is possibly why he got off so light, why he was offered the plea-bargain. If convicted of tampering-destroying evidence, any number of people who were convicted on evidence that touches on this officer’s involvement in the conviction is in question. As it should be, The Public only wants the guilty to be convicted, It is abhorrent when someone is falsely accused and jailed. When a citizen has their life robbed from them, the police involved must be held to account. Still this scum honored the Motto,
To Serve Himself and to Protect his Arse.
Re: Pension punishment
Re: Re: Pension punishment
Punishment Should not be limited to the bent cop, but further punishment must be rained down in the chain of command that allowed his corrupt conduct to continue. Its the only way we can get the cops to obey the law. as for punishing his dependents, do you seriously think he gave a thought to them, the choice is simple. ruin their lives, make them destitute, or give them a fair chance to adjust to a better live beyond the scum-bag’s influence.
Why Do You Have A Town Of 300 Residents...with 100 Police Officers?
Those 100 people in Oakland, Michigan might be on to something.
I’m willing to pay them, just so I can call myself a policeman if it means I get a stack of ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ cards!
I guess “for the police” is more important than “for the children”.
Darrell Beavers is a pedophile - yes that's true
Law enforcement often use inflammatory language to label petty criminals with exaggerated terms.
I think AC’s point is that if a cop can legally use child pornography and pedophilia to describe people guilty of even minor offenses, cops deserve the same when they get busted.
i have to wonder though, what the sentence would have been had it been an ‘ordinary man’ rather than a police officer. the sentence should have been much longer here, given the position of trust that officer Beavers held.
Re: Re:
If Beavers has sent or received these images using an instrumentality of interstate commerce, he is also in violation of the federal child pornography statute.
Sending and receiving 650 child pornographic depictions is punishable by several years imprisonment under the parallel federal statute.
The article does not directly state if Beavers also filmed his sex acts with the minor, but if he did, and it can be proven, there is an additional crime of production of child pornography hanging over his head.
Note that there is no statute of limitation for child pornography under federal law, and that Beavers even after serving his state sentence can be prosecuted at any time until his physical death by the federal government.
The federal government usually does not go after small child pornography distributors or producers where state law is adequate, but there is no constitutional bar to federal prosecution and the DOJ might take an interest given the agravating circumstances.
The takeaway from this case is that carma is a bitch and that Beavers due to several nice pro-law enforcement rulings by the Supreme Court can never live in safety from federal prosecution.
(1) Due to the dual sovereignty limitation on double jeopardy, the federal government can prosecute him for the same conduct if doesn’t like the state sentence.
(2) Because Beavers has admitted everything, and the evidence is now a matter of public record, the federal
government does not have to start from scratch.
It can build any federal case on the state’s evidence and call the same witnesses to testify in the federal proceeding.
(3) A ‘child’ for the purpose of the child pornography law
is a person under the age of 18.
It doesn’t matter if shhe was one day from her 18 year birthday, or that she was mature enough to say yes to the act.
(4) Beavers is a state sex offender and a convicted felon and that fact has some very surprising implications under federal law.
The crooked local machinery may shield him from the worst, but the federal government and other states regard convicted child pornographers very harshly.
One interesting legal consequence is that some private employers under federal contract ask job applicants about their prior convictions and that it’s illegal to answer such a question falsely if the employer has a legal right to the correct answer.
Re: Re: Re:
FYI, it’s “karma”, not “carma”…just thought you’d like to know since your post is well written.
Re: Re: Re: Re:
There once was a carman named Karmann …
[limerick follows]
Re: Re: Re: Re:
Carma being a bitch would be getting screwed by GTA biasing the cars on the road towards what you drive when you need something with different stat emphasis.
Common Pleas Court Judge Ralph Winkler
According to other press coverage, Common Pleas Court Judge Ralph Winkler already knew the defendant (Beavers).
It’s a small community, so there may be more to the story than Judge Winkler’s sudden empathy for a child pornographer and corrupt cop.
And the agencies/depts throughout the country still dont understand why the public as a whole is now distrustful of them? Why there is now an exponential increase of scrutiny & recording of these entities over their actions of dubious legality?
Police Explorer program
Somehow I don’t think this is what the girl’s parents expected when she told them she was going to be in the Police Explorer program. It just goes to show that there’s unintentional Truth in Naming in strange places.
Stop being so paranoid people, our governments wouldnt hire bad people
Oh, wait………yeah, but, he’s probably the only one, i mean have you ever heard of others in HISTORY
Oh, wait……..but this is probably the last time it will ever happen, so lets keep doing what they say
FACEPALM
Now wonder if he was founder of a file-sharing site…
Darrell Beavers is a pedophile - yes that's true
No, he is not a child molestor on account of having sex with a minor.
But now it becomes interesting, because federal law defines child pornography — namely possession, distribution and production broader than the age of consent for the physical act.
Whether or not the federal government ought have that power is a different issue, and I personally don’t think it should, but fact is that pro-law enforcement interpretations of the law upheld by the Supreme Court have made life a hell for sex offenders.
it’s simply horrific that a cop can get away with a slap for acts which would have brought years imprisonment for lesser people.
Regarding the quantity of the images, I am only relying on the newspaper account of the case.
It may well be that some of these do not meet the federal definition of CP, or that some of the material is only textual depictions.
However, a textual depiction of sex may also constitute obscenity, if it meets the Miller test, and person on person obscenity may also implicate federal law if the depiction has been transmitted in interstate or foreign commerce.
Ohio is usually not soft on obscenity, and if there was a will, I am sure they could nail this cop on more charges.
Common Pleas Court Judge Ralph Winkler
IN any case, Common Pleas Court Judge Ralph Winkler is not in for a happy re-election, assuming that Ohio elects lower court judges.
One only needs to advertise up to the election, that he let a child pornographer get off with a one year prison sentence.
And he can’t sue because the statement is true, and truth is an absolute defense.