Porn star arrest: Documents detail charges against police
Documents provided by Columbus Police on Thursday detail the departmental charges against a commander and four other people associated with the now-defunct vice unit.
The five members of the division, who have experience ranging from 17 to 31 years on the force, could face discipline up to and including firing as a result of the charges, which were announced Wednesday.
Commander Terry Moore, Lt. Ron Kemmerling, Sgt. Scott Soha and officers Steven Rosser and Whitney Lancaster are facing departmental charges in relation to the arrest of adult film star Stephanie Clifford, more commonly known as Stormy Daniels, in July 2018.
According to the charging documents, Moore, a 29-year veteran, is accused of giving approval of the operation at Sirens Gentlemen’s Club on July 11, 2018, which resulted in the arrest of Clifford, who was performing at the club that night, and two other local employees of the club.
The documents indicate that Moore did not give “proper weight to the potential negative consequences” and did not properly supervise the officers under his command.
Kemmerling, a 23-year veteran, faces similar charges, including that he allowed officers under his command to not properly document information received about Sirens and did not make sure Rosser and Lancaster were properly documenting their hours worked.
An additional charge is related to the $760 spent by the four officers who were undercover inside Sirens that night. Those officers — Lancaster, Rosser, former vice officer Shana Keckley and officer Mary Praither, who was invited by vice personnel — spent the money on lap dances, alcohol and other expenditures at the club.
According to vice unit policy, any expense more than $500 has to have prior approval from someone at the lieutenant level or higher in the chain of command.
The charging documents say that Kemmerling did not approve or even discuss the amount of money to be spent during the operation.
Kemmerling is also accused of having “endorsed and then abdicated” the operation resulting in Clifford’s arrest, as well as having “failed to make or direct a tactical or operational plan” for the operation.
The documents associated with the charges for Kemmerling, Lancaster and Rosser all indicate the operation at Sirens “deviated significantly” from investigations Lancaster and Rosser had done at other strip clubs in the past.
“In the other strip club investigations, all charges were filed at a later time, or the offender was released on summons,” interim Police Chief Thomas Quinlan wrote. “Not a single suspect, except Ms. Clifford, was ever arrested ‘on view’ and taken to the Franklin County Jail.”
Soha, a 17-year veteran, is departmentally charged with failing to ensure his officers were following proper investigative protocols in the arrest of Clifford and failed to properly supervise Rosser.
Lancaster, a 31-year veteran, is accused of making an improper arrest of Clifford, failing to document what he told investigators into the arrest were prior surveillance operations at Sirens in September 2017 and June 2018, failing to follow investigative protocol and failing to submit accurate time cards on at least six occasions between September 2017 and July 11, 2018.
He is also accused of failing to take action to stop a potential narcotics transaction Lancaster said he witnessed while inside Sirens on July 11, 2018.
“You witnessed a restroom attendant provide what you believed to be cocaine to the manager of Sirens,” Quinlan wrote in the documents. “You did not take any enforcement action ... despite the fact that one of your stated goals of the investigation was to investigation violations of law involving drugs.”
Lancaster has been on paid suspension since December 2018 as a result of an ongoing FBI Public Corruption Task Force investigation.
Rosser, who is also on paid suspension because of the FBI investigation, is charged departmentally with the improper arrest of Clifford, multiple time card violations, failing to properly document investigative material and failing to follow proper investigation protocols.
Rosser, a 18-year veteran, is also accused of improperly conducting an interview with Clifford while she was in the back of a prisoner transport vehicle. Vice unit protocol requires any interview after a person is in custody to be recorded in some fashion and to be conducted, if possible, at police headquarters.
Clifford was brought to police headquarters for processing after the interview with Rosser and before being transported to the Franklin County Jail.
In addition, Rosser is accused of lying to internal affairs investigators about the purpose of going to Sirens. The documents allege Rosser was looking for a specific dancer in relation to a possible human trafficking investigation.
“No search was conducted ... for ‘Pearl’ and no other Vice Section personnel interviewed ... made any statement in reference to looking for a specific human trafficking victim named ‘Pearl.’”
All five officers could face punishment including a reprimand, suspension or termination. Each officer will have a hearing before Quinlan between Aug. 21 and 26. Quinlan will then make recommendations to city Safety Director Ned Pettus Jr. regarding discipline, with Pettus making the final decision if the discipline rises above a reprimand.
Quinlan’s decision would be final if the discipline would be a reprimand.
After Clifford’s arrest and the fatal shooting of a woman by an undercover vice officer the next month, activities of the vice unit were suspended in September 2018. The FBI probe began around the same time and remains ongoing.
In March, Quinlan disbanded the vice unit. He announced in July the unit will be resurrected as a new Police and Community Together Team (PACT) that will have more accountability.
Keckley, who was undercover inside Sirens with Lancaster and Rosser, was not departmentally charged. After the arrest drew international headlines, messages Keckley sent from her division email account regarding the arrest brought further scrutiny on the arrest and the reasoning behind it.
An internal investigation by Columbus police determined there was not a political motivation behind the arrest of Clifford, who at the time of her arrest had a pending lawsuit against President Donald Trump.
All five officers could face punishment including a reprimand, suspension or termination. Each officer will have a hearing before Quinlan between Aug. 21 and 26.