A Washington D.C. police officer was arrested Monday night and accused of making child pornography following an incident involving a 15-year-old girl.
D.C.ist reported that authorities recovered photos of the girl and at least two other unidentified people who could be teen girls, after conducting a search against Officer Marc Washington, a seven-year veteran of the department.
Washington allegedly encountered the girl after taking her mother's missing-person report on Dec. 1. After the woman alerted police that her daughter had returned home on her own. Washington then returned to the home and, while speaking to the teen alone, asked her to remove her clothes and began taking pictures, saying he was documenting injuries, even though the girl said she was unharmed.
The suspect allegedly then took pictures of the girl's body, including her "unclothed vaginal area," before leaving the residence. Shortly thereafter, the girl reportedly told her mother, who contacted police.
Metropolitan Police were alerted on Monday and Washington was arrested by the department's Internal Affairs and Youth Investigations Division after a brief investigation.
"We invest a great amount of time and effort to ensure that we are hiring the right people and we continue to proactively monitor integrity across the department," Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier was quoted as saying. "But to learn of an allegation of this kind against a person who is sworn to protect our children, it is both shocking and disturbing. We are fortunate that someone came forward to alert us of this behavior to ensure that we prevent future victims."
[Image: "Police" via Shutterstock]
