A former police detective in Kansas Metropolis, Kansas, on the middle of neighborhood complaints of corruption and accusations that he preyed on Black girls was charged Thursday with federal civil rights crimes involving sexual assault.
The retired detective, Roger Golubski, 69, was scheduled to look in courtroom on six counts associated to raping a lady from 1998 to 2001 and one other girl from 1999 to 2002 whereas he was employed by the Kansas Metropolis Police Division, the Division of Justice stated.
The FBI has been investigating allegations that Golubski, who’s white, sexually assaulted Black girls within the metropolis and exchanged medication for data throughout prison investigations. He retired in 2010 after 35 years with the Kansas Metropolis police power.
The investigation was championed by activists in Kansas Metropolis’s Black neighborhood and garnered consideration from Group ROC, the social justice arm of hip-hop mogul Jay-Z’s leisure firm, which despatched an open letter to the Justice Division in January asking why the company did not reply to its calls to analyze the broader police division.
“We proceed to face in solidarity alongside the individuals of Kansas Metropolis, Kansas, who’ve been patiently ready for justice and accountability,” Dania Diaz, the director of Group ROC, stated. “The arrest of Roger Golubski is a big step towards making a safer neighborhood and we applaud the Division of Justice for his or her dedication, diligence and thorough work on this investigation.”
The federal indictment introduced Thursday accuses Golubski of sexually assaulting two girls, recognized as S.Okay., and O.W., on a number of events from 1998 to 2002. The indictment doesn’t state the race of the ladies.
He’s accused of raping each girls and forcing them to carry out oral intercourse on him a number of occasions in his car and on the girls’s properties. Golubski’s conduct included aggravated sexual abuse and kidnapping, based on the indictment.
If convicted of any of the counts, Golubski may very well be sentenced to life in jail.
Golubski’s lawyer, Morgan Roach, did not instantly reply to messages in search of remark.
Civil rights teams for years sought an investigation into Golubski’s conduct. The allegations in opposition to him drew extra consideration after Lamont McIntyre, who spent 23 years in jail for a double homicide he didn’t commit, sued Golubski and different Kansas Metropolis officers after he was launched.
McIntyre and his mom, Rose McIntyre, alleged within the lawsuit that Golubski framed Lamont for a double murder in 1994 as a result of she refused the detective’s sexual calls for. The native authorities agreed in June to settle the lawsuit for $12.5 million.
When deposed by McIntyre’s attorneys within the case, Golubski invoked his Fifth Modification proper in opposition to self-incrimination tons of of occasions. He has persistently declined media requests to touch upon the allegations.
Cheryl Pilate and Lindsay Runnels, attorneys for the McIntyres, counseled federal regulation enforcement companies on the arrest.
“We’re hopeful the justice system delivers the accountability that the Kansas Metropolis, Kansas, neighborhood deserves,” they stated in a press release.
The Midwest Innocence Mission, a civil rights group that works to free wrongfully convicted inmates, stated in a press release that Golubski’s arrest was “step one” to find justice for these harmed by regulation enforcement officers, significantly Black girls.
“A full investigation into the abuses in Wyandotte County and systemic reforms are wanted to make sure that no different law enforcement officials and public officers can proceed to abuse their energy,” the group stated in a information launch.
In 2020, a coalition of Kansas lawmakers, non secular leaders and racial justice advocates requested the Kansas Bureau of Investigation to analyze Golubski and different members of the division who have been accused of misconduct and abuse.
In 2021, Group ROC filed a petition in search of information from the police division associated to what it referred to as a historical past of officer misconduct throughout the division.
The police division didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark, however Police Chief Karl Oakman stated final yr that he would help on the whole with any investigations.
“Our relationship with the neighborhood is of utmost significance which is why we’re targeted on strengthening present relationships and restoring these which were damaged,” he stated in a press release.
