Post by KC on Jun 30, 2006 20:11:16 GMT -5
Officer Brady Randall Hale
June 30, 2006 - A former Denton County police officer who once conducted Internet stings by pretending to be a teenage girl agreeing to sex with adult men has himself been convicted of sexual impropriety with a 16-year-old girl.
Brady Randall Hale, 30, was convicted of sexual assault Wednesday and sentenced to 10 years in prison. He remained in the Denton County jail Thursday and could not be reached for comment.
Mr. Hale was arrested in Seagoville, where he was a police officer, in February 2005. He had consensual sex with the girl while he was a Pilot Point officer, according to testimony in his trial this week.
In July of 2004 Mr. Hale was working at the Pilot Point department and made at least two arrests after posing as a young girl in Internet chat rooms. Adult men drove to Pilot Point to meet the “girl” and Hale arrested them.
Another officer who worked for Pilot Point at the time, officer Darrell Wright, 41, was convicted in September 2005 on six counts of sexual assault involving the same victim. He was sentenced to eight years on each count.
Pilot Point Police Chief James Edland heard rumors about sexual liaisons involving his officers and the girl in October 2004, and asked Texas Ranger Tracy Murphree to investigate. Mr. Murphree arrested both men in early 2005, along with former Aubrey Police officer Dennis Alatzas.
According to testimony, Mr. Hale met the girl when he gave her a traffic ticket and began a relationship with her. He brought her to a house he shared with Mr. Wright, who also began having sex with her.
Mr. Hale was working for Seagoville police by the time the allegations came to light. He was tried on two counts of sexual assault but the jury found him not guilty on the second count Wednesday.
Sgt. Alatzas, 38, faced indecency with a child charges in connection with the girl. He was accused of knowing about Mr. Wright’s relationship with the girl and not reporting the crime. He testified against the other men.
Officials said officer Alatzas’s charges will be reduced to misdemeanor failure to report child abuse.
www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/city/denton/stories/063006dnmetdenofficer.b772150.html