Post by WaTcHeR on Mar 10, 2006 14:41:06 GMT -5
Officer Christopher Holle
03/10/2006 - Bartow Police Officer Christopher Thomas Holle, 32, has been charged with tampering with a witness during an investigation into his relationship with a 17-year-old Bartow High School student.
Holle, 32, was arrested Monday, and bonded out of Polk County Jail that night after posting $10,000 bail.
The charge stemmed from an internal investigation conducted after Bartow police received an anonymous letter saying Holle was having a relationship with the teenage girl. Since the investigation was determined to be criminal, it was turned over to the Polk County Sheriff's Office. Florida law prohibits anyone older than 24 from engaging in sexual activity with anyone 17 or younger.
The girl was subpoenaed by the State Attorney's Office, but refused to answer any questions, except to say she knew Holle, according to the arrest affidavit. A judge placed her in the Juvenile Detention Center for three days on a contempt of court charge.
She later said there had been no sexual activity with Holle, the affidavit states. The girl's mother also said she had no knowledge of a sexual relationship, even though her daughter and Holle had stayed together at his house all night six or seven times. Holle also had stayed all night at her residence.
Both mother and daughter went out of town with Holle and stayed in a hotel “to get away from it all,” the mother told investigators. During the investigation, the mother accompanied Holle and her daughter to South Carolina, where they were married, according to the affidavit.
The names of the mother and daughter were not released because of the sexual nature of the case, Asst. State Attorney Brad Copley said.
Nineteen people were interviewed during the investigation, and all but one said they knew nothing about a sexual relationship between the police officer and the teenage girl.
Most said Holle told them, “If you didn't know about it, then you would not have to lie.” However, they all knew Holle was dating a 17-year-old, the affidavit says, and most told investigators that because of his past actions, Holle “would not be in the relationship unless it was sexual in nature.”
On Feb. 11, detectives interviewed a 17-year-old female witness who told them that Officer Holle “made it very clear not to tell anyone about their relationship and that he would lose his job if I told anyone.” The witness said Holle was “very forceful in the way he was talking to her,” the affidavit says, and “he just kept drilling it into me.”
Holle also told her to say that he is “a long time friend of the family, tell them that you know we didn't have uh . . . anymore of a relationship than friends, that we are not dating, that you know we're not doing anything that we shouldn't be.”
But the witness told investigators that Holle said he was going to take the girl on a cruise in May, after she turned 18 in April. Holle allegedly told her, “There would be lots of sex going on, but it wouldn't be any different from now.”
Holle's attorney, Julia Williamson, believes there was “a rush to judgment” in the case. “I don't blame Bartow Police Department for investigating” after receiving the anonymous letter, she said, but she believes the criminal investigation could have been conducted in a more “respectful” manner, instead of “pushing against the wall.”
The state “didn't have any evidence” of a sexual relationship between Holle and the girl, and “our stance is they wouldn't,” Ms. Williamson said. Because of the situation with the girl, “the state grasped at this straw” of witness tampering, she said.
“I don't believe there's any evidence to prove it.”
After the girl spent her time in detention, she answered questions at the State Attorney's office, Ms. Williamson said. Although she was not present, the attorney believes the implication is that she denied a sexual relationship, because Holle has not been charged in that situation. The affidavit does say the girl denied any sexual activity.
In today's society, Ms. Williamson said, “apparently people don't believe you can wait six months for a sexual relationship,” when the girl turns 18.
She said she understands the girl has returned to Bartow High School, where she is a “good student.”
Holle has been the subject of two other internal investigations by Bartow Police Department. In 2000 a charge of sexual harassment was determined to be unfounded. Two violations of the officers' code of conduct were upheld by Chief Erik Sandvik. They concerned conducting oneself with personal integrity, making statements and criticism of the department which might subject members or the department to ridicule. Holle received two days suspension without pay for the violations, and was told to attend sensitivity training.
A few months ago a complaint of discrimination by a Hispanic man during an incident at Polk Street Community Center was determined to be unfounded, BPD Major Dennis Hoecherl said.
The current BPD internal investigation will continue, Hoecherl said. That is an administrative, not criminal, investigation, to determine whether BPD policies and codes of conduct were violated. Holle remains on suspension without pay.
Witness tampering is a third degree felony. Holle has been with BPD for 10 years.