Charles Locke was sentenced to
19 and a half years in prison after pleading guilty to having a sexual
relationship with a 15-year-old girl. He said he was so exhausted from working
so much that he could not stop himself.
BY RACHELLE BLIDNER
Charles Locke was sentenced to
19 and a half years in prison after pleading guilty to having a sexual
relationship with a 15-year-old girl. He said he was so exhausted from working
so much that he could not stop himself.
Former Cleveland Police
Officer, Charles Locke, was sentenced to 19 and half years in prison after
pleading guilty to having a sexual relationship with a teen girl..
Locke told the court that he “had no control”
over having the relationship because it was “an emotional thing.”.
Locke blamed stress at work for videotaping
himself having sex with a 15-year-old girl while in uniform..
Locke testifed during the trial of accused
serial murderer Anthony Sowell in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court in 2011..
A former Cleveland police
officer said working too hard led him to videotape himself having sex in his
uniform with a 15-year-old girl.
Charles Locke, 42, was
sentenced to 19 and a half years in prison after pleading guilty last month to
having a sexual relationship with the teen and videotaping two encounters.
"It was an emotional
thing," Locke told the court Wednesday. "I had no control."
Locke said he was exhausted
from working 90 hours a week when he met the girl at a recreation center,
according to Raw Story. He served as a security guard there, in addition to his
police duties.
The girl's family became
suspicious when the two began spending a lot of time together at the recreation
center and in his police cruiser, according to 19 Action News. Her parents said
they heard rumors he had relationships with teens he met at the rec center.
Anthony Sowell was arrested by
Charles Locke in 2009 on a rape and felonious assault warrant after the bodies
of seven women were found in Sowell's home.HO/AFP/Getty ImagesAnthony Sowell
was arrested by Charles Locke in 2009 on a rape and felonious assault warrant
after the bodies of seven women were found in Sowell's home.
Locke was arrested in July and
placed on unpaid administrative leave. He was fired after pleading guilty last
month to five counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor,
two counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor and one count of possessing
criminal tools.
Videos of Locke's encounters
with the teen were too graphic to show in court.
Locke is an
"aberration," Carl Hartman, Internal Affairs investigator, said.
"He is a cancer among the
proud, honest and hard-working members of the Cleveland Division of
Police," Hartman said. "Charles Locke is a monster."
The girl said she is now
struggling with depression.
"I trusted him a
lot," the teen wrote in a letter to the court. "My mood now changes
too much. I'm depressed. I'm sad, mad, and sometimes happy."
This case was the first time
Locke was disciplined since he began working for the police department in 2007,
attorney Deanna Robertson said. He gained notoriety in 2009 as the officer who
arrested serial killer Anthony Sowell and testified at his trial.
Related StoriesA corrections
officer in Ferguson, Mo., is accused of brutally raping a pregnant woman in
jail last year in another troubling incident involving law enforcement in the
midwestern city.Ferguson corrections officer accused of raping woman.
