Post by KC on Sept 26, 2006 20:29:32 GMT -5
September 26, 2006 - A former police officer in Newport, Ky., wants the city to take a fresh look at an old case - his conviction for stalking and harassing a fellow officer.
Originally charged with first-degree sexual assault, former police Capt. Cyril Sykes pleaded guilty to the lesser charges in August 2004.
Former Newport police Detective Kelly Jobe accused Sykes of sexually assaulting her in September 2003 inside his office.
Last week, Sykes went to a Newport City Commission meeting to make a formal complaint against City Manager Tom Fromme in connection with the case.
Sykes said that over the years, he has gathered more information about the case that warrants another look.
"All I want is the truth to come out, and justice," he said. "A lot of people have said and done a lot of horrible things to me, and they're still working at the Newport Police Department."
Fromme, who was the city's police chief at the time of the incident between Jobe and Sykes, said he couldn't comment. All the evidence in the case was turned over to the Kentucky attorney general's office, he said, which prosecuted the case.
Coming as it did less than two months before the November election, the complaint must be politically motivated, said City Solicitor Michael Schulkens. It was an issue in the last election, he said.
Sykes said the most important of the 21 items he asked the city to investigate is a gap of about one hour in the department's surveillance recordings of the day in question. The recordings would have shown that Lt. Jane Poynter was in the area of his office before and during the time the alleged assault happened, he said.
He believes that officers in the police department erased the tape, he said, because it would exonerate him.
Fromme never told Newport internal affairs investigators or the attorney general's office about the gap, he said.
"That is a bold-faced lie, that's my mild response," Schulkens said.
It's true that there's a gap in the recordings, he said, but the investigators knew about it.
"As Mr. Sykes knows, no one would have loved more for that to have been a whole tape than the city of Newport," he said.
That's because the city's insurer had to pay Jobe a civil judgment of $175,000 when it settled her case against Fromme and the city in January, he said. Jobe, who said she injured her back trying to ward off Sykes' advances, is now retired from the police department.
Schulkens said he sent a letter to Sykes at the end of last week asking for more information about his complaint.
The proper procedure to make a criminal complaint against a police officer is to sign a sworn affidavit, he said, which Sykes didn't do.
"He knows this," Schulkens said. "He's been through the process."
"He wants to create a situation where he can say I complained to them and they didn't do anything."
As part of his plea bargain in the case, Sykes served 30 days in jail and 60 days of home incarceration, and also agreed to never work again as a police officer.
news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060926/NEWS01/609260345
Originally charged with first-degree sexual assault, former police Capt. Cyril Sykes pleaded guilty to the lesser charges in August 2004.
Former Newport police Detective Kelly Jobe accused Sykes of sexually assaulting her in September 2003 inside his office.
Last week, Sykes went to a Newport City Commission meeting to make a formal complaint against City Manager Tom Fromme in connection with the case.
Sykes said that over the years, he has gathered more information about the case that warrants another look.
"All I want is the truth to come out, and justice," he said. "A lot of people have said and done a lot of horrible things to me, and they're still working at the Newport Police Department."
Fromme, who was the city's police chief at the time of the incident between Jobe and Sykes, said he couldn't comment. All the evidence in the case was turned over to the Kentucky attorney general's office, he said, which prosecuted the case.
Coming as it did less than two months before the November election, the complaint must be politically motivated, said City Solicitor Michael Schulkens. It was an issue in the last election, he said.
Sykes said the most important of the 21 items he asked the city to investigate is a gap of about one hour in the department's surveillance recordings of the day in question. The recordings would have shown that Lt. Jane Poynter was in the area of his office before and during the time the alleged assault happened, he said.
He believes that officers in the police department erased the tape, he said, because it would exonerate him.
Fromme never told Newport internal affairs investigators or the attorney general's office about the gap, he said.
"That is a bold-faced lie, that's my mild response," Schulkens said.
It's true that there's a gap in the recordings, he said, but the investigators knew about it.
"As Mr. Sykes knows, no one would have loved more for that to have been a whole tape than the city of Newport," he said.
That's because the city's insurer had to pay Jobe a civil judgment of $175,000 when it settled her case against Fromme and the city in January, he said. Jobe, who said she injured her back trying to ward off Sykes' advances, is now retired from the police department.
Schulkens said he sent a letter to Sykes at the end of last week asking for more information about his complaint.
The proper procedure to make a criminal complaint against a police officer is to sign a sworn affidavit, he said, which Sykes didn't do.
"He knows this," Schulkens said. "He's been through the process."
"He wants to create a situation where he can say I complained to them and they didn't do anything."
As part of his plea bargain in the case, Sykes served 30 days in jail and 60 days of home incarceration, and also agreed to never work again as a police officer.
news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060926/NEWS01/609260345