Detective arrested in Boulder
MAN ACCUSED OFWARNING SUSPECT IN CHILD SEX STING
A Boulder police detective has been arrested on suspicion of interfering with an investigation and is accused of warning a man suspected of sexually exploiting a child not to meet a police officer posing as a 13year-old girl.
Jack Gardner, 56, has been charged with accessory to Internet luring, first-degree official misconduct and obstructing government operations, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, which is overseeing the case.
“Boulder police began preparing for a meeting between (the suspect) and the purported teen when (the suspect) received an e-mail on is accused June 5 from someone warning him not to meet” her, the DA’s office said. An investigation revealed the e-mail had been sent from within the police department from a laptop “in Gardner’s desk area,” the release said.
The Jefferson County district attorney’s office is handling the case on the request of the Boulder County district attorney and Boulder police.
Gardner joined the police force in 1998. He was named detective of the year in 2011 and won an award from the district attorney’s office.
Gardner is alleged to have interfered with the summer investigation of Kahlil Peckham, 26, who police say sent more than 700 texts and computer messages to a Boulder police officer posing as a 13year-old female on Craigslist.
“Many of the texts from Peckham contained sexually graphic descriptions of what he would like to do with the purported teen,” the release said. “There were also many texts exchanged between Peckham and the teen in which they discussed meeting for the purpose of sexual contact.”