A new Washington Post investigation discovered that hundreds of law enforcement agents in the United States sexually abused children in the last 20 years, while authorities at all levels of the criminal justice system failed to protect children, punish offenders, and prevent further crimes.

Botched background checks, a disregard for red flags, and mishandling of investigations have contributed to the issue, and accused police officers have used their legal skills to evade prosecution, reduce charges, or avoid conviction. Prosecutors have offered favorable plea agreements to cops who confessed to having raped and molesting minors, and judges have permitted several guilty cops to avoid jail.

Children in every state and the District of Columbia have been targeted, groomed, and violated by cops who are supposed to protect them.

To make matters worse, the incidents appear not to be isolated. Between 2005 and 2022, The Post identified at least 1,800 state and local law enforcement officials who were charged with offenses involving child sexual abuse.

Reporters spent more than a year combing through hundreds of court files, police records, and other documents to learn who these cops are, how they acquire access to minors, and what is — and isn't — being done to prevent them.

The Post also analyzed the country's largest database of police arrests, managed by Bowling Green State University, which collects news coverage about law enforcement arrests. Of the hundreds of thousands of sworn policemen in the country, only a small percentage are ever charged with a crime, and not all are covered by the media. 

From 2005 to 2022, Bowling Green identified around 17,700 state and municipal cops who were charged with crimes like physical assault, drunk driving, and drug possession. According to The Post, 1 out of every 10 cops was charged with a felony involving child sexual abuse.

This form of police wrongdoing has generally gone unnoticed by the public and unreported inside the criminal justice system. Some law enforcement officials admitted to The Post that more could have been done to bring accountability.

Children left with 'no one else to protect them'

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Assistant US Attorney General Kristen Clarke, who leads the Justice Department's section, expressed that the "heinous conduct" was intolerable, citing that officers who abused their authority had left young victims with "no recourse and no one else to protect them."

The majority of victims were female, with a median age of 14 years old. Almost three-quarters of them were adolescents who officers rarely had connections with. 

Police and court records demonstrate that abusive policemen routinely spent months befriending and grooming children with many using the fear of arrest or physical violence to coerce their victims.

After cops were charged with child sex offenses, several agencies attempted to distance themselves in media coverage by claiming that the alleged wrongdoing occurred while officers were off duty.

In Lake Wales, Fla., where three law enforcement personnel have been charged with offenses involving child sexual assault since 2005, Police Chief Chris Velasquez said such allegations must be handled seriously regardless of when or where the alleged misbehavior took place.

He asserted that the public saw police as law enforcement "regardless of whether we're on or off duty."

However, The Post discovered that in cases throughout the country, even if the abuse occurred when cops were off duty, they frequently encountered their victims on the clock.

When The Post examined the outcomes for around 1,500 cops accused of offenses involving child sexual assault between 2005 and 2020, nearly 40% of the police avoided jail time.

17% of the cops were not convicted, were acquitted by a jury, had their cases dropped, or, in some cases, reached a plea deal.

Of the cops convicted, 61% were condemned to state or federal prison, while 15% were sentenced to local jails. 24% received probation, fines, or community service. 52% of those convicted to jail or prison received sentences of five years or less.

Only 26% were sentenced to 5-15 years and 21% were sentenced to more than 15 years.

Officers frequently did not complete their entire sentences. The Post received jail dates for hundreds of policemen, and on average, they served around 63% of their sentences before being freed.