Wednesday, February 03, 1999
More Morrow cop violations surface
BY SHEILA McLAUGHLIN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MORROW — A village police sergeant, accused of making lewd remarks to a female student, continued to work at Little Miami High School for more than a month after the allegations surfaced.
John Christen, 30, a seven-year veteran of the force who was promoted to sergeant in November, has not been charged. He resigned Jan. 19 during an internal probe by the sheriff's office.
The investigation, prompted by the allegations of a 14-year-old girl, snowballed to include other accusations as sheriff's detectives interviewed 15 witnesses.
An internal report, released Tuesday, found that Mr. Christen not only made sexual comments to at least three students, he frequently gave cigarettes to minors, had sex with an 18-year-old woman while he was off-duty but in uniform at a Morrow park, and took Polaroid pictures with a department camera of women he flirted with while on patrol.
Mr. Christen, one of two full-time officers, continued his assignment at the school after parents of the 14-year-old girl complained to the school in December, prompting the school to notify Morrow police.
Mr. Christen, who worked the 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. shift, was assigned to patrol the high school area daily to run off students who were smoking on street corners. He also reported those incidents to the principal's office and took offense reports at the school, tasks that put him inside the school building and in contact with students, Chief Russell Kilburn said.
“We could have put him on administrative leave, but I just didn't believe it,” Chief Kilburn said of the 14-year-old's accusations. “He continued to work at the school. I ordered him not to talk to the kids anymore.”
Chief Kilburn said he was surprised by the additional violations corroborated in the internal investigation.
The report sustained allegations of conduct unbecoming an officer, immoral conduct, neglect of duty, non-conformance to laws and unauthorized transport of juveniles — problems that could have gotten Mr.
Christen fired if he were still on the job.
Morrow officials asked the sheriff's office to conduct the internal investigation after assistant principal Dan Bennett notified village police Dec. 16 about the alleged comments reported by the 14-year-old.
In a memo, Mr. Bennett told police that he and a guidance counselor talked to the girl and her parents Dec. 10.
“She reported to us that Officer Christen had made an inappropriate statement to her,” Mr. Bennett wrote. The girl “also expressed to us that a similar comment had been made to another student.”
The alleged incident involving the 14-year-old occurred across the street from Little Miami High School grounds, the memo said.
Mr. Bennett declined to comment, referring questions to Superintendent Michael Virelli.
Mr. Virelli said he did not know anything about the 14-year-old's allegations until late January — after Mr. Christen's resignation — when the girl's mother called to ask why Mr. Christen had been allowed to continue working in and around the school.
The girl's mother told The Cincinnati Enquirer she was assured by school officials that Mr. Christen was banished from the school and was not allowed to talk to students.
“It wasn't a school matter. He did not work for the school district,” Mr. Virelli said.
“Dan Bennett did the right thing. He felt he had dealt with the matter properly by reporting it to the Morrow Police Department. Then the police chief should have made the determination whether or not (Mr. Christen) was fit for duty or needed to be reassigned or put on administrative leave. The Morrow Police Department evaluated he was fit for duty.”
Mr. Virelli said he was not aware of other accusations until he read the internal report Tuesday.
School board member the Rev. Gary Stringer said he knew nothing about the allegations against Mr. Christen. Routinely, problems at school buildings are reported to the superintendent, he said.
“I'm going to have to get all the facts. Certainly, we don't want people who shouldn't be involved with the children exposed to them,” the Rev. Stringer said.
Mr. Christen could not be reached for comment. His lawyer, Steve Imm, said, “John continues to deny any wrongdoing.”
Mr. Imm said he intends to file suit against Morrow to have Mr. Christen reinstated because he claims he was forced to resign.
Lt. Jerry Mays, who conducted the internal investigation for the sheriff's office, would not comment on the report. He halted the investigation because Mr. Christen resigned and refused to be interviewed.
The report was turned over to Morrow officials late Monday.
Chief Kilburn said he had received earlier complaints about Mr. Christen's flirtatious behavior with women, but never complaints regarding minors.
He said he told Mr. Christen to stop spending so much time around women, but took no disciplinary action.
Mike Powell, an assistant county prosecutor who serves as Morrow's solicitor, said he will meet with council to review the internal report.
“One of the things we will do is review the procedures to determine whether there are any deficiencies in our policies and move to correct them ... try to prevent foul-ups in the future,” he said.
Village officials also will consider whether any criminal charges should be lodged against Mr. Christen for giving cigarettes to teen-agers, he said.
“You would expect parents of the minors to make some complaints about it. That not happening would weigh heavily on our decision to file charges,” he said.
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