Current:Home > FinanceEx-New York police chief who once led Gilgo Beach probe arrested on sexual misconduct charges-InfoLens
Ex-New York police chief who once led Gilgo Beach probe arrested on sexual misconduct charges
View Date:2024-12-23 21:07:06
NEW YORK (AP) — James Burke, a former Long Island police chief who served federal prison time for beating a suspect, was arrested Tuesday for allegedly soliciting sex and exposing himself at a public park.
Burke, 58, was taken into custody by park rangers in a Farmingville, Long Island park shortly after 10 a.m., according to a spokesperson for Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone. He faces charges of offering a sex act, public lewdness, indecent exposure, and criminal solicitation, with additional potential charges pending, the spokesperson said.
An attorney for Burke could not be reached. The Suffolk County District Attorney did not respond to a request for comment.
Burke led the Suffolk County Police Department, one of the nation’s largest police forces, between 2012 and 2015, a tumultuous three-year period that ended with the conviction of Burke and multiple other officials on federal charges of obstruction and assault.
Amid the federal inquiry into his conduct, Burke oversaw the high-profile investigation into the Gilgo Beach killings, in which the bodies of multiple sex workers were discovered on a desolate stretch of Long Island coastline. His handling of the case, including a decision to end cooperation with the FBI, has been widely criticized, drawing renewed scrutiny following the arrest of a suspect in some of the killings earlier this summer.
Burke resigned in late 2015, shortly before federal prosecutors brought charges against him for assaulting a handcuffed man suspected of stealing embarrassing items from his police department SUV, including sex toys and pornography.
He pleaded guilty in 2016 to violating victim Christopher Loeb’s civil rights and obstructing justice for leading a conspiracy to conceal his involvement in the assault. He served 40 months in prison and was released in April 2019.
Burke attacked Loeb in a police station interrogation room after Loeb was arrested for breaking into the ex-chief’s unlocked, department-issued GMC Yukon and stealing a bag containing his gun belt, ammunition, a box of cigars and a bag containing sex toys and pornography.
Loeb’s three-year prison sentence was vacated after Burke pleaded guilty. Authorities suspect he was stealing from cars to buy heroin.
Former Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota and the chief of Spota’s anti-corruption bureau, Christopher McPartland, were convicted in December 2019 of witness tampering, obstruction of justice and conspiracy charges for helping cover up the assault.
Spota, 81, and McPartland, 57, are both serving five-year prison sentences.
According to federal prosecutors, Spota, McPartland, Burke and other police officers met and spoke by phone to discuss how to conceal Burke’s role in the assault on Loeb. In addition to pressuring people not to cooperate, they asked witnesses to provide investigators with false information and withhold relevant information from investigators, federal prosecutors said.
veryGood! (18332)
Related
- Queen Bey and Yale: The Ivy League university is set to offer a course on Beyoncé and her legacy
- Get $173 Worth of Peter Thomas Roth Top-Selling Skincare Products for Just $53
- Toast the End of Harry Styles' Tour With Facts That Taste Like Strawberries on a Summer Evenin'
- Nordstrom Clear the Rack Sale: Find Deals on Your Next Go-To Shoes from Adidas, Dr. Martens, ECCO & More
- Ben Foster Files for Divorce From Laura Prepon After 6 Years of Marriage
- Project Runway All Stars' Designer Anna Zhou Talks Hard Work, Her Avant-Garde Aesthetic & More
- Tom Brady and Irina Shayk Spark Romance Rumors With Intimate L.A. Outing
- Lisa Rinna Leaves Little to the Imagination in NSFW Message of Self-Love
- Former NFL coach Jack Del Rio charged with operating vehicle while intoxicated
- Megan Fox Caught in Middle of Scuffle After Man Attempts to Punch Machine Gun Kelly
Ranking
- Footage shows Oklahoma officer throwing 70-year-old to the ground after traffic ticket
- Everything to Know About Vanderpump Rules Season 11
- Jersey Shore’s Snooki Gets Candid on Her Weight Struggles in Message to Body Shamers
- The Unsolved Murder of Tupac Shakur: Untangling the Many Conspiracy Theories About the Rapper's Death
- Texas mother sentenced to 50 years for leaving kids in dire conditions as son’s body decomposed
- Security guard killed in shooting at hospital in Portland, Oregon; suspect dead
- Bachelor Nation's Raven Gates and Adam Gottschalk Welcome Baby No. 2
- Why Oscar De La Hoya Says He Let Travis Barker and Shanna Moakler Raise Daughter Atiana
Recommendation
-
Joan says 'Yes!' to 'Golden Bachelorette' finale fantasy beach proposal. Who did she pick?
-
The 16 Best Beauty Launches From July 2023: Rare Beauty, Rhode, Kylie Cosmetics, Olaplex, Tower 28 & More
-
Taylor Swift Lets Out the Ultimate LOL While Performing Song About Kanye West Feud
-
Feel Free to Salute These Secrets About Saving Private Ryan
-
Northern Taurid meteor shower hits peak activity this week: When and where to watch
-
Dispute over threat of extinction posed by AI looms over surging industry
-
Justin Timberlake Mourns Death of Music Director Daniel Jones at Age 41
-
Carlee Russell's disappearance was 'hoax'; charges possible, police say