Problem Scenario:
You are the Commander of the Major Crimes Unit at the Kennewick Police Department in Kennewick, Washington. It is a late Sunday afternoon. The on-call Detective sergeant supervising the Major Crimes Unit has called you to relay the following:
He and his on-call Detective responded to the residence of a forty-year-old female who told them that her sixteen-year-old daughter was raped by a city fireman at the local fire station earlier today. They interviewed the daughter who told them that she initially contacted the fireman through a social media site. He invited her to the fire station “for a tour.” Once there, she says, the fireman forced her to wear department issued clothing, pose nude for photographs, and then he proceeded to have intercourse with her on top of the fire engine within the fire station away from other employees. The sixteen-year-old’s boyfriend was the impetus for her reporting this to authorities. She did not want to report the matter.
Detectives went to the fire station and interviewed the fireman in question. He told them that he is married. However, he is a member of Adult Friend Finder, a website that matches persons interested in discreet sexual liaisons. When questioned about his contact with the sixteen-year-old, the fireman looked genuinely surprised that the female was sixteen. Going online at the fire station using the Department’s computer, the fireman showed the Detectives his profile along with the profile of the alleged victim. There, the sixteen-year-old lists in her profile that she is twenty-one years old. Her profile photo suggests that she appears be twenty-one. The fireman admitted to striking up a conversation online with the female. Once they felt comfortable with each other, they exchanged cell phone numbers and began texting. Eventually, he arranged their meeting at the fire station. He showed these texts to the Detectives which appeared to be consensual and very cozy.
When questioned about the sexual activity, the fireman acknowledges that the female came to the station voluntarily. While the other two employees were in the breakroom, he took the female to the fire engine bay. Together, they climbed on top of the fire engine. He admitted to taking photos of the female in several stages of undress in fireman’s gear. He also took photos of them having intercourse. He handed the digital camera that he used to take the photographs to the Detectives. They scrolled through the digital photographs to confirm that they were indeed illegal sexualized images of a minor and the minor in question. The female in the photographs was the alleged victim and appeared to be consenting to and enjoying their sexual congress.
Together, the two Detectives reviewed RCW 9.68A Sexual Exploitation of Children. They concluded that the fireman had not committed a crime. They called a prosecutor at the Prosecutor’s office. The Prosecutor agreed. Having no authority to seize the photos, they said, but with the fireman now having knowledge that the female was indeed sixteen, Detectives deleted the images from the SD card on the camera and returned it to the fireman.
Upon learning of the decision by the Detectives, the mother and boyfriend of the sixteen-year-old female filed an Internal Affairs complaint against the two detectives demanding that the fireman be arrested. The Mayor of the city of Kennewick demanded that the Police Chief fire the two Detectives.
As the supervisor of the Cybercrime Unit, discuss all of the issues to this point and then direct, explain, and discuss any further issues that will or potentially may arise as a result of your direction in this matter.
Note: Your assignment will be checked for originality via the Turnitin plagiarism tool.
