PHILADELPHIA – A Philadelphia police chief inspector was arrested Thursday on allegations that he sexually assaulted three female police officers, according to reports.
Carl Holmes, 54, was determined by a grand jury to have abused his power after mentoring the younger officers, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
The investigation found the alleged assaults included kissing, fondling and digital penetration. Holmes surrendered to police Thursday morning, according to the Inquirer.
As a chief inspector — a position second-highest after the commissioner— Holmes was largely protected from any meaningful investigation, while the female officers faced retaliation in the form of Internal Affairs investigations, the grand jury contended. Specifically, one accuser was actually arrested on narcotic charges shortly after she filed a complaint—drugs were allegedly found in the trashcan outside her home. The woman told the grand jury the charges were unfounded after the allegations strung along for three years. She resigned from the department in 2009.
Holmes, 54, surrendered to police Thursday morning, and was expected to be arraigned later in the day. He could not be reached for comment, reported the Inquirer.
Carl Holmes is accused of sexually assaulting three younger female officers in the Philadelphia Police Department. (Philadelphia Police Department)
The chief inspector was reportedly suspended for 30 days with the intent to dismiss. John McNesby, president for Philadelphia’s police union, said it would not represent Holmes, the Inquirer reported.
According to the report, the arrest of Holmes is a potential watershed moment for a department that critics and female officers have long argued tolerates pervasive sexual harassment.
The allegations come two months after Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross resigned over allegations that members of his department had engaged in sexual harassment and racial and gender discrimination against two female officers, Fox 29 reported.
One of the Ross’ accusers is a female officer who said he retaliated against her after she ended an affair with him; the claim emerged as part of a broader lawsuit about workplace sexual harassment.
Holmes, a lawyer since 2003, has twice been publicly accused of sexually assaulting female police officers who worked for him during his 29-year career, but nonetheless continued to receive promotions. The years-old allegations involving Holmes and those two officers had been detailed extensively, both by local media, and in court documents, but had not led to criminal charges until Thursday.
In both instances, the women — former Officers Christa Hayburn and Michele Vandegrift — claimed that Holmes digitally penetrated them against their will. A lawsuit that Vandegrift filed against the city over her alleged assault was settled in 2017 for $1.25 million. The women’s earlier public accounts are more extensively detailed in the 26-page presentment, but their names were redacted in the version obtained by The Inquirer.
“As I’ve said before, the facts of the case are extremely troubling, from start to end. I appreciate that the DA re-visited the matter,” Mayor Jim Kenney said in a statement. “It is extremely important to ensure the women who put their life on the line for Philadelphians feel safe and respected in their workplace.”
It was unclear if Holmes has a lawyer. The Philadelphia Police Department did not immediately return media requests for comment.
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