Ex-columbus detective admits dereliction
Convicted of mishandling evidence in rape case and a kidnapping case
A former Columbus police detective wept Tuesday in a Franklin County courtroom as she apologized for failing to act on evidence in a rape case.
“I tried,” Amy B. Welsh told Municipal Court Judge Ted Barrows. “I really tried. I’m so sorry.”
Welsh, 53, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of dereliction of duty. Her words were difficult to understand at times through her tears and the face mask she wore in keeping with the court’s pandemic protocols.
Barrows imposed a $350 fine plus court costs and ordered her to serve 10 days of home confinement. The maximum penalty for the offense is 90 days in jail and a $750 fine.
Because the veteran resigned from the Columbus Division of Police last year, Barrows said “it’s entirely unlikely that something like this will reoccur.”
Welsh was charged in September 2019 with three counts of dereliction of duty related to mishandling evidence in the rape case and a kidnapping case. Two of the counts were dismissed as part of a plea agreement.
Joseph Gibson, chief prosecutor for the Columbus city attorney’s office, said
the agreement was reasonable given Welsh’s resignation and the mental health issues she was experiencing at the time of the offenses.
Still, Gibson called her actions “serious conduct.”
“As a public, we entrust officers with our safety and we trust that they will investigate these crimes,” he told the
judge. “This shatters that public trust.”
The rape case involved a 21-year-old woman who in June 2012 had a sexual assault examination done at a hospital, the results of which were collected and turned over to Columbus police.
According to prosecutors, Welsh never filed a request with the crime lab to process the rape kit. In September 2014, a property room clerk discovered the kit had not been tested and forwarded it for DNA testing against a database of criminal offenders, which resulted in a hit for a possible suspect.
Welsh was notified of the DNA match in October 2014 and again in September 2015, but failed to act on the information.
Gibson said that and other mishandled investigations were discovered by officers who entered her office after she was suspended in July 2019 for unrelated employment issues.
“They found a desk filled with evidence – dozens of items of evidence that either had not been addressed or followed through on,” he said.
Defense attorney Mark Collins said Welsh was dealing with mental health issues at the time of her investigative failings, some of it related to her being a victim of sexual harassment and stalking by a co-worker.
“She’s been a victim and she helped victims all the time and she knows how bad it is to be a victim,” Collins said. “And the fact that her actions contributed to someone else who was a victim not getting justice in the court system, that’s what’s been eating at her.”
Welsh, who served with the police division for 25 years, began her career as a patrol officer before becoming a detective in the sexual assault, homicide and child abuse units. jfutty@dispatch.com @johnfutty