D.C. police officer accused of running prostitution ring

WASHINGTON (WJLA) - A D.C. police officer is alleged to have been pimping a number of teenage girls from his Southeast D.C. apartment, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court Wednesday.

The unnamed officer is the one whose apartment was searched throughout Wednesday, a search during which sources say police were able to locate a teenage girl who had been reported missing by her family.

According to documents, the girl who was discovered was part of a prostitution ring being run by the cop, who sources say works Washington's 7th District.

A search warrant filed at U.S. District Court in the District indicates that the 16-year-old girl, who was found Wednesday inside the Stanton Road Southeast apartment, was one of a number of girls the officer was allegedly prostituting.

During the early morning search of the officer's home, MPD officers discovered the girl in a back bedroom. She told officers that she had met the suspect about two weeks ago, and after several meetings, the suspect told her that he had made a "date" for her with an older man.

That "date" was of to be a sexual nature, documents say. The teenage girl, whom the suspect told the victim that her prostitution name was to be "Juicy" - was told she'd be paid $80 for performing sexual acts on the man and that she was supposed to give $20 of that to the suspect.

She also told officers that she had met six other girls inside the Southeast D.C. apartment who told her that they were also being prostituted, including with ads posted on backpage.com. The suspect also allegedly took naked photos of the girls, purportedly for use in advertisements for sex.

Marijuana, condoms and a large mirror were also seized from the apartment; law enforcement officials say that the seized mirror had the names of other females who were being prostituted written on it.

The unnamed suspect is the second 7th District MPD officer to be charged this week. On Tuesday, Ofc. Mark Washington was charged with producing child pornography on allegations that he took naked photos of a 15-year-old girl who had been reported missing.

D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said in a statement that her department would not stand for the conduct of these two officers.

"The misguided actions of a few in no way reflect on the professionalism, dedication, and integrity of the Department," Lanier said.

On Friday, community leaders in Southeast D.C. told us there is outrage in the area over why the D.C. police officer has yet to be charged with misconduct.

"They may be protecting one another," said Sandra Seegars. "I've heard people say that if it was an ordinary citizen, they would have been arrested by now."

In response, Police Chief Lanier said: "We are actively trying to determine if there is anything criminal in nature that we can charge the officer with."

But some say the community is losing faith in the department’s ability to properly police itself.

"I think eventually the FBI should get involved in this, because it could be a bit larger than what we anticipated," said Mary Cuthbert.

Some of the uneasiness comes on the heels of the allegations against Officer Marc Washington, who will soon be released to house arrest.

"If all these laws and rules are being broken by those who enforce them, someone needs to do better," said Anthony Muhammad.