We have seen a wave of news recently about police officers committing atrocious sexual crimes and getting a slap on the wrist. The pattern holds true, as a Utah cop was just sentenced to probation for the sexual exploitation of a minor. Sergeant Brett Hadley took a plea deal and was sentenced to one year of probation for getting a teenager drunk and sexually exploiting him.
Hadley confessed to engaging in sexually explicit conduct with a male student he knew from his time as a school resource officer. As part of the plea deal, he admitted to sexual solicitation by way of attempting to get the student to prostitute himself. He also exchanged sexually explicit photographs with him. The worst allegations made against Hadley are that he sexually assaulted the student numerous times over eight years. According to the victim, he was 16 or 17 when his interactions with Hadley began. Hadley started to ask for nude pictures of him; later he started to pay cash for sexual favors.
Detectives spoke with witnesses and were able to obtain evidence contained in Hadley’s cell phone. “This pattern of illicit behaviors appears to possibly be (Hadley’s) ‘grooming’ of (a victim) for a lengthy period of time,” the police report stated. “It does appear from witness accounts as well as evidence on Officer Hadley’s own cell phone that he was soliciting sexual favors … in exchange for money.” The name of the victim was not released. Detectives investigated a potential second victim, but were unable to bring charges from that investigation.
The family of the boy had suspicions that something was not right ,so they hired a private investigator. The private investigation led to an internal affairs investigation. Ultimately, Hadley was fired in 2015 by his employer, the Harrisville Utah police Department. The allegations made against him stemmed from his time at a different agency, the Pleasant View Police Department – also his time as the officer stationed at Weber High School. Hadley was sentenced to a mere twelve month probation, after taking a deal which suspended any actual jail time. In September, the Utah Peace Standards committee permanently revoked Hadley’s law enforcement certification. Needless to say, Hadley will never patrol any streets ever again.
The timing of Hadley’s changing of agencies was suspicious, as if he had resigned because he knew an investigation was coming. Switching agencies to avoid discipline is another recurring theme we see in many cases of alleged police misconduct. According to the FBI, statistics for review of cases in 2010 showed police accused of sexual misconduct at over three times the rate of the general population, when compared to federal crime stats. Police are also accused of unlawful killing at a rate of four times the general population.
Statistics don’t lie. Police work attracts personality types far more prone to acts of violence than the regular person on the street.
This isn’t the first time an ex-cop in Utah accused of sexual exploitation of a minor, got the break of a lifetime. In 2014, an ex-Trementon Utah cop, Jeremy Rose, was arrested and convicted of posing as a pornographic film maker and requesting photographs for money of a fifteen year-old girl. The judge condemned Rose’s actions and sentenced him to a lengthy sentence comprised of multiple prison terms. The judge seemingly had a change of heart, suspending the bulk of the sentence and allowing Rose to serve 270 days of work release, followed by three years of probation. It’s hard to say if the thin blue line is responsible here or if Utah is just that backwards of a state.
When police break the law, the penalties they suffer should be much harsher – than if they had no badge. Instead, we got more of the same. Sgt Hadley betrayed the trust of not only the victim, but the school, his department and ultimately, the community. That level of trust the police must carry should warrant a much harsher punishment when said trust is violated. When we see this kind of behavior in the news on such a regular basis, we have to connect the dots. We can no longer deny the problems we see with police are systemic, nor can we continue to place blame on just a few bad apples.
Sources: Police Misconduct, Before Its News, Standard.
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