Post by WaTcHeR on Jul 13, 2006 10:24:57 GMT -5
July 13, 2006 - A former Haskell police officer was arrested Monday on statutory rape complaints.
Officer Bob Wheeland, 53, is accused of having sex with a 14-year-old and a 15-year-old girl. Muskogee County Sheriff’s Office investigators arrested Wheeland at his Haskell home without incident.
The arrest came within hours after Investigator Jan Ray interviewed a second girl who told authorities she was raped by the former 16-year veteran of the Haskell Police Department.
Authorities said Wheeland used his position as a police officer to befriend his alleged victims. Brown said the mother of the first alleged victim took her daughter to the police station for counseling, and Wheeland’s relationship with girl developed from there.
“This was his method of getting these kids to come to his home,” Investigator Tim Brown said. “We have information indicating there is a third victim, and there could be more out there.”
Authorities said even though the girls may have gone willingly to Wheeland’s home, a person younger than 16 years cannot legally consent to a sexual relationship under Oklahoma law.
Assistant District Attorney David Pierce said charges were not filed earlier because the first victim who came forward is being treated for trauma and records have yet to be made available. He said once the second girl came forward, there was enough evidence to issue an arrest warrant.
Wheeland was fired in February after city officials learned he was being investigated in connection with the alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl.
Wheeland was being held Monday without bond in Muskogee County/City Detention Facility. Bond is to be set today when Wheeland appears in court on expected charges of second-degree rape.
www.muskogeephoenix.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060711/NEWS01/60711007/1002
Officer Bob Wheeland, 53, is accused of having sex with a 14-year-old and a 15-year-old girl. Muskogee County Sheriff’s Office investigators arrested Wheeland at his Haskell home without incident.
The arrest came within hours after Investigator Jan Ray interviewed a second girl who told authorities she was raped by the former 16-year veteran of the Haskell Police Department.
Authorities said Wheeland used his position as a police officer to befriend his alleged victims. Brown said the mother of the first alleged victim took her daughter to the police station for counseling, and Wheeland’s relationship with girl developed from there.
“This was his method of getting these kids to come to his home,” Investigator Tim Brown said. “We have information indicating there is a third victim, and there could be more out there.”
Authorities said even though the girls may have gone willingly to Wheeland’s home, a person younger than 16 years cannot legally consent to a sexual relationship under Oklahoma law.
Assistant District Attorney David Pierce said charges were not filed earlier because the first victim who came forward is being treated for trauma and records have yet to be made available. He said once the second girl came forward, there was enough evidence to issue an arrest warrant.
Wheeland was fired in February after city officials learned he was being investigated in connection with the alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl.
Wheeland was being held Monday without bond in Muskogee County/City Detention Facility. Bond is to be set today when Wheeland appears in court on expected charges of second-degree rape.
www.muskogeephoenix.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060711/NEWS01/60711007/1002