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Police Chief Gets No Jail, Allowed to Retire, Gets $72k in Benefits After Guilty Plea in Sex Assault Case
Marshfield, WI — In January of last year, Marshfield Police Chief Rick Gramza was arrested and charged with three counts of misconduct in office, disorderly conduct, and fourth-degree sexual assault against a department employee. However, instead of facing a jury of his peers for these accusations, Gramza received tens of thousands of dollars, months of paid vacation, and no jail time.
Last month, Gramza was given a sweetheart plea deal and all of the above charges were reduced to two disorderly conduct charges — on both of which he was immediately found guilty. After paying a measly $661 fine, Gramza will be free and clear.
According to reports, the former chief Gramza is accused of sexually assaulting a department employee on several occasions, as early as 2014 and as late as this past summer.
WSAW reports the Eau Claire detective sergeant investigating the case shared some specific instances the employee told him, including one in 2015, where she says she went into his office to talk about a promotion and then he sexually assaulted her.
“And made a statement similar to ‘this isn’t ever going to help you get a job,’ recalled Detective Sergeant Adam Taylor, from the Eau Claire Police Department.
The employee told Detective Sergeant Taylor she feared retaliation and when she reported concerns to human resources in 2015, that “it did not go well.”
After the accusations, originally surfaced, Gramza was placed on paid administrative leave in mid-August 2020, but continued to receive his salary and benefit package from the city, totaling just over $146,000. Now, he’ll be getting over $70,000 more, approaching nearly a quarter of a million dollars for roughly half a year — in which he never worked a single day.
Only a government employee could enjoy such benefits. Nowhere in the private sector would an alleged sexual predator be given a paid vacation for six months and allowed to retire with their full benefits.
A statement from city Administrator Steve Barg released after the charges were dropped and the money handed out, claimed that the city simply doesn’t want to deal with the officer anymore, so it’s best to just let him go to avoid any further conflict.
“The city recognizes that some may be disappointed the city is not pressing forth with the proceedings,” Barg said. “Under the terms of an agreement, the city is providing Chief Gramza with a separation benefit, which the city believes will avoid greater litigation costs that the city would incur and litigating the charges in front of the commission and from any post-hearing appeals. This is a difficult but thoughtful and pragmatic choice that protects those individuals involved in that proceeding and saves the city significant costs. The city can now focus on its remedial efforts to ensure all employees understand that misconduct discovered is unacceptable and has no place in the city.”
Alderperson Ken Bargender was only one of two people to come to their senses and vote no on giving this accused sexual predator such a sweet deal.
“Back in December of 2020, this council by unanimous vote authorized City Administrator Steve Barg to file formal charges against Chief Gramza. Now, three months later and only days before the PFC hearing to begin, this same council is considering a voluntary separation and settlement agreement with Gramza. I believe due to the serious nature of the charges it is not in our best interest as a city to consider any time of settlement agreement before going through the hearing process. Furthermore, I don’t support any type of settlement agreement that would include additional taxpayers’ dollars,” Bargender said.
Must be nice.
https://thefreethoughtproject.com/po...-assault-case/Comment -
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Off-Duty Cop Saving Family from Intruder, Killed by Fellow Cops Who Mistook Him for a Criminal
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Serial Child Rapist Cop, Who Used His Badge to Rape Children, Gets 40 Years in a Cage
Crowley, LA — All too often, as frequent readers of the Free Thought Project can attest, sexually abusive cops get slaps on their wrists for heinous and vile crimes. Even when these officers abuse society’s most vulnerable, children, they often times avoid jail all together. It is a travesty of justice and it is unfortunately a normal part of charging police officers with crimes.
The following case, however, is an exception to that rule. A disgraced Louisiana cop will not be avoiding jail and will not be getting off with a slap on the wrist for preying on children. Former Crowley Police Department officer Damon Broussard, 45, was sentenced by 15th Judicial District Court Judge Marilyn Castle this week to 40 years behind bars — arguably the rest of his life.
As is the state law in Louisiana, Broussard will not be eligible to even apply for parole or probation for at least 25 of those years. This is music to the ears of his victims as Broussard is a repeat offender.
Broussard has an arrest record spanning back nearly a decade. He was first arrested in 2013 on multiple counts of aggravated rape and molestation of a juvenile after several of his victims came forward. During that time, he was employed with another department, the Lake Arthur Police Department.
Broussard’s first victim was just 8 years old when this monster first attacked her. That victim, now an adult, came to Broussard’s sentencing on Tuesday to see her abuser get put away for decades. Five other women — who Broussard abused as children as well — also attended the sentencing.
During the trial, prosecutors pointed out that Broussard was not on the job when the sexual abuse occurred, but believe his position of authority as a police officer aided in his targeting of the victims.
As the Advocate reports, the victim at the center of the case provided a victim impact statement in advance of the sentencing announcement; the other women were able to provide testimony during the trial as part of admissible evidence, the assistant district attorney said.
“I think they were relieved. They were happy. I think ultimately they were just glad that something happened and that some closure was brought to them, and that they know they weren’t forgotten. I think they’re kind of prepared to close this chapter in their lives and move forward,” assistant district attorney Brian Langford said.
No one could answer why it took 9 years for Broussard to go to trial. However, after Langford took over the case in January of last year, Broussard was finally convicted in November after Langford, co-counsel Burleigh Doga and the victim’s assistance coordinator Pam Fruge worked closely with the victims to revive the case.
Because he was not swiftly charged and put in jail, Broussard was able to victimize even more children after his arrest in 2013. While awaiting trial, this sicko was arrested again in 2018. This time it was for multiple counts of child pornography and a series of other charges stemming from that arrest.
He has been locked up since his arrest in 2018 and has yet to go to trial for those charges. Langford told reporters this week that they are considering on how best to move forward with the remaining charges.
Given that he is now a convicted child rapist, after he goes to trial for the child pornography charges, he will like spend the rest of his pathetic life in a cage — something that undoubtedly gives all of his victims peace.
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Serial Rapist Cop, Sentenced to 263 Years, Up for Parole After Doing Just 6 Years
Oklahoma City, OK — A disgraced former Oklahoma City police officer, Daniel Holtzclaw, 29, was sentenced to 263 years in prison in 2016, after being convicted of numerous rapes and sexual assaults while on duty. Holtzclaw was convicted on 18 felony counts — including four counts of first-degree rape in December, 2015.
After serving a portion of this sentence, Holtzclaw appealed, maintaining his innocent since the beginning. In 2019, Holtzclaw tried to appeal the case, however, the evidence against him is so overwhelming, a judge refused to overturn his conviction.
The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals in August 2019 upheld the convictions of Holtzclaw. On Monday, however, Holtzclaw once again tried to get out of jail, getting yet another chance before Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board. Luckily for his victims, once again, he was denied in a 5-0 vote.
Holtzclaw and his family have maintained his innocence since day one and claim that because the judge in his case, Oklahoma County District Judge Tim Henderson, was accused of sexual misconduct himself, that Holtzclaw must have been railroaded.
“I hope and pray more people finally see I truly was railroaded and wrongfully convicted,” he said in a statement. “I upheld my oath of office by protecting and serving my community, while Judge Henderson was allegedly abusing women and violating his oath. It’s time to reopen every one of Henderson’s cases, including mine, that was impacted by his sexual misconduct.”
Clearly his family is ignoring all the evidence in the case which is what led to the unprecedented sentence against this serial rapist cop.
In most cases, police departments and unions rush to the defense of criminal cops, but in this case, they actually didn’t.
“Your offenses committed against women in our community constitute the greatest abuse of police authority I have witnessed in my 37 years as a member of this agency,” Oklahoma City Police Chief Bill Citty said in a letter when he fired Holtzclaw.
The evidence in the case showed that Holtzclaw actually went through the police database to find the vulnerable women that he could attack.
As we reported at the time, after accessing the list of names that Holtzclaw had run through the department’s databases, the Sex Crimes Unit interviewed the women on that list and discovered six more women who accused Holtzclaw of sexually assaulting them. The women had been afraid to report the crimes because most of them had a history of drug abuse or prostitution. According to the Sex Crimes Unit, Holtzclaw used one database to check for existing warrants and the other database to see if any of his victims had reported him.
“He didn’t choose CEOs or soccer moms; he chose women he could count on not telling what he was doing,” District Attorney Lori McConnell said during the trial’s closing arguments, according to Reuters. “He counted on the fact no one would believe them and no one would care.”
Around 2 a.m. on June 18, 2014, Officer Daniel Holtzclaw pulled over a 57-year-old middle class grandmother with no criminal history and forced her into the back of his patrol car because she could not roll down her broken driver’s side window.
Instead of requesting a female officer, Holtzclaw forced her to expose her breasts and pull down her pants. As Holtzclaw exposed his penis with his gun in plain view, she pleaded, “Please don’t do this. You’re not supposed to do this!”
After Holtzclaw ordered her to perform oral sex, he dropped her off at her daughter’s house. She immediately reported the assault and was taken to the hospital to receive a medical forensic exam. In the hospital, she met Det. Kim Davis of the Oklahoma City Police Sex Crimes Unit who connected her report to a similar unsolved assault report involving the same officer in May 2014.
That grandmother who reported her assault to the law enforcement authorities — an action that triggered the investigation that led to Holtzclaw’s eventual prosecution and conviction — spoke at the sentencing hearing according to the Oklahoman.
The rogue officer was convicted of various sexual offenses involving eight women, although he was accused of committing sex crimes against 13 African American women.
The former officer used his position and power to prey on women in low-income neighborhoods, according to investigators, knowing that as an officer his word would be believed over that of a former prostitute or addict.
Holtzclaw must have expected that the legal protection he had as a police officer would absolve him of the crimes that he carried out behind the badge. Luckily in this case, his badge did not protect him from conviction, but sadly there are many more officers out there just like him, using their position of power as shield from legal consequences.
After seeing so many cops walk free after victimizing the public they are tasked to protect, the 263-year sentence imposed upon Daniel Holtzclaw was a welcome modicum of justice and his denial of parole this week, an acceptable supplement.
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Hero alert!
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Decorated ‘Hero’ Cop, Featured on TV — Busted Trying to Have Sex with 12yo, Trafficking Child Porn
Sioux Falls, SD — Sioux Falls police officer Luke John Schauer was a decorated cop who has been the subject of television interviews and has received multiple awards during his tenure in law enforcement in South Dakota. All of that is meaningless now, however, as his desires of pedophilia have risen to the surface and he is facing down decades in prison.
Schauer was arrested on Tuesday and hit with a slew of charges ranging from the production of child porn to sending lewd images to a child under the age of 16. According to police, Schauer, 28, thought he was communicating with a 12-year-old girl online using the KiK messaging app.
Luckily, however, it was not a child but rather uncover FBI agents involved in a sting. Beginning on Jan. 18 and ending on Feb. 4, when the search warrant was issued for Schauer’s house, this hometown “hero” was having sexually explicit conversations with a person he thought was just 12 years old.
According to the affidavit filed in the case, Schauer sent multiple explicit messages and images to the undercover officer, including images of his genitals. He also encouraged the child to make her own child porn and send it to him.
Police also said Schauer was caught sending lewd materials to another child under the age of 16. Though all the local news stories are referring to Schauer as a “former cop,” he wasn’t fired from the department until his arrest.
Following his arrest, on Wednesday, the mayor released the following statement:
"Upon learning of the allegations surrounding Officer Schauer’s arrest, he did not work another shift for the Sioux Falls Police Department and is no longer a member of our Police department. In order to protect the integrity of the ongoing criminal proceedings and the rights of all involved, no further details will be provided at this time."
According to investigators, they were able to determine Schauer had been sending the lewd photos of himself to children online from his own bedroom. TFTP found Schauer’s social media profile and it appears that he is married with a child, adding to the disgusting nature of his crimes.
When a search warrant was executed at Schauer’s home, investigators found blankets and portions of a bedroom that matched the backgrounds in the photos Schauer sent.
Though he pleaded not guilty after his arrest, according to court documents, two FBI agents reported that Schauer admitted to using his social media account to send lewd messages and graphic images to someone he believed was a 12-year-old girl, and to requesting photos from the girl.
The exchange of messages Schauer had with the undercover agent — who he thought was a 12-year-old girl — are shocking, to say the least. The things he said to a child and encouraged her to do were utterly sickening especially considering that he has a daughter of his own.
Those conversations are in the court documents below.
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Big surprise! These pigs lied to their own IA investigators about drinking on the job and the police department having a vending machine filled with beer instead of soda pop. They eventually spilled the beans when the DOJ got involved and conducted interviews.
City of Springfield settles a civil rights lawsuit involving police officer, still faces a 2nd one
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WATCH: Raging Cop Strangles Female Officer After She Stopped Him from Attacking Handcuffed Man
Sunrise, FL — Since the murder of George Floyd rocked the nation in 2020, across the country police departments and municipalities have passed legislation requiring cops to intervene if they see their fellow officer — like Derek Chauvin — committing a crime or violating someone’s rights. Since then, TFTP has reported on several instances of good cops stepping in to stop bad cops from unleashing their pent up anger on unwitting suspects. In the following scenario, however, a good cop stepped up to stop a bad cop and it got her attacked.
A veteran Sunrise police sergeant is on desk duty and under investigation this week after he was captured on video strangling a female officer. The incident unfolded in November but body camera footage from the shocking scene was only just released this week. Apparently, the audio in the footage is too revealing for the public to hear, so the video is silent but it’s bad enough.
On November 19, 2021, Sunrise police were arresting at man at a local convenience store for allegedly assaulting people outside. When the video begins, the man is in handcuffs and being loaded into the police cruiser. Though he was putting up some resistance at first, eventually the man sat down and got inside.
The suspect’s compliance was of no concern to Sgt. Christopher Pullease, however, who pulled up to the scene after the suspect was in the back of the squad car. For no apparent reason, Pullease began threatening the suspect with a can of pepper spray.
“I find it to be inappropriate and unprofessional, because what he did is he escalated the situation when calm was actually required,” Chief Anthony Rosa told 7 News Miami, describing Pullease’s actions that day as “disgusting.”
Luckily for the suspect, there was a good cop on the scene who was unafraid of stepping in to stop a bad cop in his tracks. As Pullease threatened the handcuffed man, priming the taxpayers of Sunrise for a lawsuit which they would be forced to fund, a brave female officer came from behind the raging cop and intervened.
As the video shows, the female officer grabbed Pullease by his duty belt and dragged him away before he could inflict anymore damage. The suspect had been saved, but the angry sergeant then turned his rage on the hero cop.
Pullease is then seen in the video grabbing the female officer by her neck, essentially strangling her as he shoved her backward for daring to stop him from carrying out his fantasies of aggression against incapacitated individuals. He then slams her up against the patrol car before turning his rage back on the handcuffed man.
Despite this clear act of assault captured on video, Pullease hasn’t been arrested, fired, or even placed on unpaid leave. Instead, he’s still collecting a paycheck as the department investigates. 7 News asked why that was the case.
“If one of us had ever grabbed an officer by the throat, we would be arrested. We would be put in jail. Why is that not happened with him?” 7 News asked the chief as he dodged the question.
“So there’s some details of the investigation that I’ve not disclosed, that I’m unable to disclose right now, and if any of the information that comes up during the investigation rises to a level of criminal behavior or criminal conduct, then we’ll address it appropriately.”
As you watch the video below, try to think of a situation in which the officer’s behavior is not criminal.
https://thefreethoughtproject.com/wa...andcuffed-man/
Watch the chief, who is also a city commissioner, try to minimize the violent actions of his POS pig and make him out to be the victim. Typical cop logic.
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"He's pignorant as shit, though. That's for sure."
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High-Ranking Cop With ‘Sex Offender Unit’ Busted as Child Sex Offender, Trafficking Child Porn
Cobb County, GA — For years, it was the job of high-ranking Cobb County deputy sheriff, Peter Bilardello, to track and monitor sex offenders in his jurisdiction to protect the town from vile predators. The 51-year-old top cop is no longer in that position though, and now finds himself on the other side of the law. The very unit he was running will now be responsible for tracking and monitoring him after he was busted trafficking in images of child sexual abuse.
Bilardello was indicted this week on charges of distributing and possessing child pornography, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Georgia said in a news release on Wednesday, Feb. 9.
“Bilardello allegedly shared child pornography through social media while he was employed as a law enforcement officer,” said U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “The victimization of children is one of the most heinous crimes imaginable, and distributing images of child sexual abuse compounds the harm. It is especially troubling that these crimes were allegedly committed by someone in a position of public trust.”
According to court documents, in November 2019, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received a report that a MeWe social media user had allegedly uploaded and shared approximately 12 images depicting children under 12 years old in sexually explicit conduct. NCMEC provided that information to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), who determined that the account user was likely located in Marietta, Georgia. The GBI then referred the information to the Cobb County Police Department.
It took nearly two years for the Cobb County Police Department to realize the person victimizing young children online — was one of their own.
On August 10, 2021, Cobb County Police determined that the MeWe account belonged to Bilardello, who at the time was a Cobb County Deputy Sheriff. He had been employed by Cobb County for more than 15 years and worked in the Sex Offender Unit of the Sheriff’s Office.
His position in the sex offender unit likely allowed him to temporarily escape accountability using his influence to throw investigators off of his trail. However, once a search warrant was finally issued, there was no more hiding.
Once police executed search warrants for the MeWe account, as well as Bilardello’s home and cell phone, they confirmed that Bilardello had uploaded and shared horrifying media of children being sexually abused. Investigators also recovered more than 100 images and videos depicting young children in sexually explicit conduct from his home. Bilardello was immediately arrested and resigned from the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office.
“The Cobb County Police Department is committed to investigating all crimes committed against the members of our various communities. But when it comes to crimes perpetrated against children, the men and women of our Special Victims Unit are the most dedicated and diligent in law enforcement. Our SVU investigators are committed to being the voices for the voiceless and fully investigating the most heinous acts committed against defenseless children,” said Cobb County Police Department Interim Chief Stuart VanHoozer.
This case was brought as part of an initiative called Project Safe Childhood. Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices around the country, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children. Unfortunately, as this case illustrates, often times, the ones promising to protect children from sex offenders — happen to be the worst abusers out there.
Another perfect example of this happened right down the road in a neighboring department in Paulding County. In February of 2018, a cop whose job was teaching kids how to avoid child predators on line was busted.
This detective, whose job consisted of working with children taught Internet Safety Day to children at Rockmart Middle School. Then, in November 2018 he was presented the Commissioner’s Public Safety Award in Paulding County for his efforts, wait for it, of keeping local children safe.
In 2019, almost an exact year after receiving an award for keeping children safe, this man was arrested for preying on children.
“Every time pornographic images are distributed online, that child is continuously re-victimized”, said Philip Wislar, Acting Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “The FBI will not tolerate predators who prey on our children, especially ones like Bilardello, who are sworn law enforcement officers that took an oath to protect the citizens of our community.”
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Woman Driving Alone In Carpool Lane Claims Preferred Pronoun Is 'They'<br><br>⏩ <a href="https://t.co/VLYLU3sGbn">https://t.co/VLYLU3sGbn</a> <a href="https://t.co/ok0RJfk3bi">pic.twitter.com/ok0RJfk3bi</a></p>— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheBabylonBee/status/1493291724176707588?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" >February 14, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>Comment -
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Former Lee deputy Niko Irizarry accused of conspiring with friends to arrest a man. Irizarry is facing charges that he conspired to arrest an innocent person on drug charges in exchange for sexual favors and a trip to Paris.Comment -
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