WJLA
December 4, 2013
A Metropolitan Police Department officer has been arrested and charged on accusations that he took naked photos of a 15-year-old girl at a D.C. apartment.
Officer Marc Washington, a seven-year veteran of the force, was charged with production of child pornography on Monday after a brief investigation. He was taken into custody not long after allegations against him surfaced.
D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier says the alleged actions of Officer Marc Washington are a blow to every good police officer on the force.
“To learn of an allegation of this kind against a person who is sworn to protect our children, it is both shocking and disturbing,” she said in a statement.
Washington served in D.C.’s 7th District, and according to charging documents, took photos of a 15-year-old girl while conducting an investigation into a missing persons report.
Authorities say that the photos were taken at a home in Southeast Washington late Sunday night. Documents indicate that he went over to the girl’s house uninvited to speak with her privately, and while talking to the girl — who had previously been reported missing — he coerced her into taking off her bra and boxer shorts.
Court records say that Washington explained that he needed to take photos of her injuries, though the victim insisted she wasn’t injured. He allegedly replied that it was procedure.
Washington then took photos of the naked girl under the guise that he needed them for identification purposes. After the officer left, the girl told her mother what Washington had done; she, in turn, contacted police.
Prosecutors claim that after the girl’s mother made the call, Washington saw the 911 dispatch and started deleting pictures. But enough pictures were found to make an arrest, and after Washington was taken into custody, law enforcement officials recovered more nude images of other young girls on his digital camera.
Local residents are outraged by the news.
“He needs to be put away for the rest of his life,” said D.C. resident Latonia Powell. “He’s supposed to be protecting the community and he’s doing more harm than good.”