Sunday, September 27, 2009

Former Officer Ryan Jackson Arrested for Molesting Juvenile

A former Shreveport police corporal is accused of having inappropriate sexual contact with a female juvenile while working an off-duty security job.

Ryan Jackson, 30, of the 4100 block of Pines Road in Shreveport, was booked into Caddo Correctional Center at 5:10 p.m. Friday after being indicted on one count of molestation of a juvenile. He was there Friday evening on a $75,184 bond, according to online booking records, which later did not list him as being at Caddo Correctional.

Jackson was employed by the Shreveport Police Department at the time of the incident, which was reported April 21, according to news releases from the Police Department and City of Shreveport.

He was placed on paid administrative leave April 28 then fired June 24, as a result of internal and criminal investigations, for violating departmental policies, the releases state.

“When an officer conducts himself in such a manner as to bring disrepute to the badge we are entrusted to wear, it is disappointing and disconcerting,” Police Chief Henry Whitehorn says in one of the statements released after 5 p.m. Friday. “I hold each of my officers to a high standard, and I will simply not tolerate misconduct.”

The case was handed over to the Caddo district attorney’s office, which brought it before a grand jury. That panel returned a secret indictment against Johnson, a seven-year member of the department, the city’s release states.

The date the indictment was handed up was not immediately known Friday by representatives of the Police Department and city. An after-hours phone call to the district attorney’s office was not answered.

Mayor Cedric Glover was “repulsed, disgusted and appalled by the charge” and commended Whitehorn for his swift action in the matter, according to the city’s release.

If convicted as charged, Jackson could face one to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.

The law also includes a provision for more jail time if a juvenile is molested by someone who has control or supervision over the juvenile. The provision increases the possible penalty to up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

And if the juvenile is younger than age 13, Jackson could face 25 years to life in prison if convicted as charged.

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