Even police officers are not immune to allegations of sexual misconduct.  I have represented officers who are accused of sex crimes, and in this #MeToo era, it is easy to lose a career and more, just from the allegations of sexual misconduct or assault.  

Recently, a 44 year old Issaquah woman accused a City of Bellevue police officer, detective, and the City of Bellevue Police Chief of sexual misconduct.  One officer resigned from his job after the allegation, and was subsequent arrest for witness tampering and assault.  The officer cooperated with the police in the investigation and allowed them to examine his cell phone forensically.  

Prosecutors said that search revealed that the Issaquah woman had lied when she said the officer had contacted her in violation of a no-contact order.

“The investigation revealed (the woman) had made up evidence that the officer had contacted her in August. A forensic analysis of (her) cellphone revealed she was the one who initiated contact with the officer on Craigslist by posing as ‘Cynthia.' The woman's claim that the officer contacted her in August was not true,” the prosecutor wrote. “As a result of the investigation, the officer was released from custody and the new charges against the officer were dismissed.” He has resigned from the Bellevue Police Department.

In dismissing the charges against the officer, prosecutors said that the alleged victim fabricated evidence and used a sophisticated ruse to deceive the officer, law enforcement, prosecutors, and the court in order to have the officer taken into custody and charged with additional crimes.

The upshot, prosecutors said, was that law enforcement arrested the accused for crimes he did not commit, prosecutors filed charges against the accused for crimes he did not commit, and the court held the accused in custody for order violations which he did not commit.”

The woman, according to the investigation by the sheriff's office, had made prior false rape reports to law enforcement in 2009 and 2010. Those reports resulted in extensive investigations that ultimately led to her admission that she had fabricated the rape allegations. 

The King County Sheriff's Office said that due to concerns about the 44-year-old woman's mental heath, investigators are not recommending that she be charged with any crime, including false reporting.

To read more about this story you can review it on the Seattle Times website here.