WASHINGTON – A D.C. police officer is under investigation for running a prostitution ring out of his Southeast apartment, where a missing teenage girl was found Wednesday, court documents show.
The missing girl was located when the investigation into her whereabouts took authorities to an apartment on Stanton Road SE around 7 p.m. on Tuesday, where a D.C. police officer lives, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court.
The officer told the investigators there were two females in the apartment. One of them was the missing 16-year-old girl, who told police the officer took pictures of her naked and set her up with a prostitution client. Investigators then obtained a search warrant, which they executed shortly after 2 a.m. Wednesday morning.
Police found marijuana, high heel shoes and bags of condoms in the apartment, according to court records.
The officer has not been identified and has not been charged. The other woman in the apartment was 18 years old, documents say.
The paperwork was filed one day after another D.C. policeman, Officer Marc Washington, was charged with producing child pornography.
Authorities have not said whether the two incidents are related.
Police Chief Cathy Lanier released a statement on Thursday saying the department was very concerned about the allegations of “egregious conduct” by two of its officers.
“We recognize that the actions of individual officers reflect on the entire Department,” Lanier states. “The misguided actions of a few in no way reflect on the professionalism, dedication, and integrity of the Department.”
The documents say the teen first met the unidentified officer two weeks earlier and he had since set up a “date” for her with an older man. She was expected to perform sex acts for $80, $20 of which she would give to the officer.
The girl also told investigators the officer gave her the nickname “Juicy.” She said she’d met six other women at the apartment who discussed their earnings from prostitution, according to court documents.
Police continue to investigate and detectives filed another search warrant for the Stanton Road apartment in federal court seeking evidence related to sex trafficking and production or possession of child pornography.
D.C. Councilmember Tommy Wells, chairman of the Judiciary and Public Safety Committee, promised on Thursday to closely monitor any developments in the two cases and work with the police chief.
“It really infuriates me,” says Wells. “These are the people that we hire to protect our children and to protect our city.”
Still, Wells considers these suspects “bad actors” who are a “discredit to a great police force.”
He says he has full confidence in the police chief.
“She shares my disappointment and disgust with these two individuals.”
WTOP’s Nick Iannelli, Andrew Mollenbeck and Amy Hunter contributed to this report. Follow @WTOP on Twitter.
