When an Ohio father learned that his 11-year-old daughter had been manipulated into sending explicit photos to an adult, he turned to the police for help.
But instead of treating the girl as a crime victim, an officer seemingly threatened to charge her under a law most people view as designed to protect child victims.
“It was a complete fail on a legal level and on a human level,” said Scott Berkowitz, founder and president of the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization. “I don’t know who immediately goes to blaming a child in a situation like that. It’s inconceivable.”
Two Ohio police officers are under investigation after they were caught on a doorbell camera warning a father that his 11-year-old daughter could be charged with “child porn” after he told them she was coerced into sending a man explicit photos, CNN reported.
The video shows two Columbus officers arriving at Billy Blocka’s house early September 14. He said he called them because his daughter had reportedly been manipulated into sending photos of herself to a man online.
The officers, one female and one male, knock on the door before the father steps out to speak with them.
“I just want you guys to come over and talk to her and I want her to realize what this was,” he says. “Reality is, not much I can probably do about it, is there?”
The female officer then responds, “I mean, she can probably be charged with child porn.”
“Who? She can?” the father says in the video. “She’s 11 years old.”
“She’s creating it, right?” the female officer says.
The father repeats, “She’s 11 years old.”
“Doesn’t matter. She is still making porn,” the female officer responds.
The father dismisses the officers, telling them to have a nice evening and thanking them for coming before asking, “Are you serious?” He shuts his door and the two officers leave.
After learning of the incident, the Columbus Police Department saying it “immediately reached out to the father to apologize, and to assure him that this matter was being fully investigated – both the actions of this officer, and more importantly, any crime committed against his child.”
The Columbus Division of Police “acknowledged” the video in a statement sent to HuffPost on Monday. The police said that the Columbus Department of the Inspector General is opening an inquiry into the incident with the officers. The statement also said that detectives in the department’s sexual assault unit are investigating the father’s claims about his daughter being preyed on by a predator online.
