by Health Impact News Staff
Over the past several years Health Impact News has documented the abuse and over-reach of child “protection” social services (CPS) all across the U.S. who have participated in removing children from families where they are loved, and placed them into dangerous situations in the Foster Care system where they are routinely abused, and often sexually trafficked.
Child sex trafficking is estimated to be the most financially lucrative illegal trafficking system in the U.S., with more money involved than both the illegal drugs and illegal gun trafficking businesses combined.
When CPS comes to a home, parents are well-advised to know their Constitutional rights and resist any efforts to enter their home without a warrant signed by a judge.
Social workers are not yet armed in the United States, so if they want to force their way into a home, the participation of law enforcement is needed. However, even police have to obey the Constitution, and if they enter a home without a sufficient warrant, they will almost always lose in court as violating the civil rights of the family.
But what if law enforcement are actually complicit with CPS with the intent to harm children and even sexually traffick them?
In this article we will look at the evidence that this may actually be happening all across the U.S.
When Corrupt Police Sexually Abuse Children
Just as there are good people in the foster care system and even some good social workers, we do not want to imply that all law enforcement are corrupt and harming children. That is certainly not the case, and there are very many brave men and women all across the country who put their lives on the line each day to serve the public.
But corrupt police and other law enforcement who use their position of authority to take advantage of the most helpless members of our society, children, need to be exposed.
A quick news search on child sex abuse charges against law enforcement officers suggests that this is a widespread problem. Here are a few stories that have made news the past few weeks.
KCK school resource officer arrested on suspicion of multiple child sex crimes
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation arrested a KCK school resource officer following allegations of rape and other sex crimes against children.
Just before 5 p.m. Wednesday, 30-year-old Mark A. Scheetz, of Lansing, was arrested without incident in Bonner Springs. He was arrested on suspicion of rape, aggravated criminal sodomy and aggravated indecent liberties with a child.
KBI said Scheetz has been employed for one year as a school resource officer for the Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools Police Department, assigned to F.L. Schlagle High School.
Adan Gonzalez’s son is a freshman at F.L. Schlagle High School.
“It’s very shocking. I mean because it can happen to anybody’s child and to the people it has happened to with this guy, you never know nowadays.
I just think you got to be more involved as parents than normal now even with people who are supposed to be helping your kids,” Gonzalez said. (Full Article.)
Canton Police Officer Charged with Child Sex Abuse
A police officer is facing child sex charges in Bradford County.
State police have charged Joshua Gleco, 27, an officer in Canton borough.
Some people who live in Canton are shocked by the arrest.
“Disgusting. There’s no place for that, especially the police force,” said Canton resident Gerald Segur.
When investigators looked through Gleco’s email and cell phone, they found child pornography and wiretap violations.
The people we spoke with say if these allegations are true, Gleco should be fired.
“He should go to jail for life for that. It’s unethical. It’s illegal, and it’s not right,” Noah Douglass said.
Gleco is the third cop in our area to be arrested this year.
“It happens all the time. It’s a shame. It happens more often than it should,” Douglass added. (Full Article.)
Myrtle Creek police officer charged with child sex abuse
A Myrtle Creek police officer has been arrested for alleged child sex abuse.
Alexander Salterio, 33, was arrested on Feb. 8 and has been charged with 17 felonies.
According to court documents, Salterio allegedly talked to underage girls on Facebook, pretending to be a teenage boy to convince them he was under 18 as well.
They allege that Salterio not only contacted the girls at his home Roseburg but also at the Myrtle Creek Police Department.
Salterio would allegedly convince them to send him explicit photos and exchange sexual videos. All of the girls were under the age of 17, including one 13-year-old and one under the age of 12. Court documents also allege that he would threaten to share the images of the girls if they didn’t send him more.
“It’s terrifying,” Myrtle Creek resident Jenny Rabern said. “It’s such a small community and someone that you trust so much would sink to something so deplorable.”
Myrtle Creek resident Thomas Witt has a 13-year-old daughter, and after hearing about the allegations, he said he’s putting his foot down when it comes to social media.
“It makes we want to take any electronic device away from my kid so she has no control to social media,” Witt said. “Because if a cop can do that that easily, what else can they do?” (Full Article.)
Pennsylvania Police Chief Among Two Arrested for Raping Child Hundreds of Times
Police chief Brent Getz, 27, and Gregory Wagner, 28, both of Lehighton, Pa., were charged Tuesday for the rape of child, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, aggravated indecent assault of child and several related charges.
The investigation started in May 2012 when the victim, who was 12 years old at the time, told a substitute teacher that Wagner was sexually assaulting her, the Attorney General’s Office said. It was reported to the Franklin Township Police Department, but no charges were filed after an investigation.
The case was reassigned in 2015, and police prepared charges for Wagner for various crimes, but the complaint was dismissed due to a paperwork error.
A Franklin Township Police Officer who was revisiting the case in August 2018 asked the victim to come back in for an interview. She said Getz, who was Wagner’s friend and the current Weissport Police Chief, had also sexually assaulted her, according to Shapiro. (Full Article.)
The Explorer Scout Program: History of Police Child Sex Abuse
Law Enforcement Explorer Badge. Image source.
Learning for Life, an affiliate of Boy Scouts of America, operates the “Explorer programs,” which includes the “Law Enforcement Explorer program.”
Law Enforcement Exploring is a hands-on program open to young men and women who have completed the 6th grade through 20 years old, interested in a career in law enforcement or a related field in the criminal justice system.
The program offers young adults a personal awareness of the criminal justice system through training, practical experiences, competition and other activities. Additionally, the program promotes personal growth through character development, respect for the rule of law, physical fitness, good citizenship and patriotism. (Source.)
Cases of sexual abuse between law enforcement and minors in the Explorer Programs have been uncovered and reported across the country for at least 40 years.
When a case was exposed in Louisville, reporter Andrew Wolfson investigated the program nationwide, and reported on his findings in the Louisville Courier Journal in 2017:
Sexual abuse of Explorer Scouts has gone on for decades across the nation
Excerpts:
When a police officer in Largo, Florida, took his own life after being accused of having sex with a 16-year-old Explorer Scout, he left behind a chilling suicide note:
“I’m not the only person who’s having sex with a minor at the police department,” John Ferraro wrote in 1998. “They really need to tighten up the rules.”
The police chief dismissed the claims of a wider scandal as groundless, but an outside investigation found that 11 officers in the department near St. Petersburg had had sex with Explorers, dating to the previous decade.
Nearly 20 years later, across the United States, the exploitation of Explorers by law enforcement officers continues.
The Courier-Journal found that over the past 40 years, at least 137 girls and 26 boys have been allegedly raped, seduced, fondled, kissed, dated or otherwise exploited in 28 states by at least 129 law enforcement officers, firefighters and other advisers.
The youngest victims were 13. One was in the sixth grade.
One officer tried to set up three-way sex with Explorers. Another took surreptitious photographs of Explorers’ underwear. A third took bondage photos of boys he took on Civil War re-enactment camping trips. In Warick, Rhode Island, six officers had sex with one girl. In Bandon, Oregon, five officers made a sex tape featuring two girls and two boys.
Seventy-five cases resulted in criminal charges and 19 in lawsuits, including one that cost Irwindale, California, a city of only 1,422 people, $2.75 million to settle.
And court testimony shows the victims, like one girl in Rossford, Ohio, who was sexually abused in 2015, suffered incalculable emotional and psychological losses — as well as shattered dreams.
“When I first met you, you were a kind person to me, someone I could trust to teach and support me on my journey to becoming a great firefighter,” the girl said to Thomas Watson in a victim statement when he was sentenced in 2015.
“Because of your actions, I struggle daily to wake up and function as a normal, happy 18-year-old.” The girl’s mother said she had struggled with seizures and suicide attempts.
The Courier-Journal’s review found that allegations have been swept under the rug by some police departments and that Learning for Life — the Boys Scouts of America affiliate that runs the Explorer program for young people ages 13 to 21 — waited for years to adopt some safeguards and haven’t enforced others, leaving police departments to police themselves.
Child Sex Trafficking is Rampant Among those with Access to Children
From child “protection” social workers, to law enforcement, to church leaders, the very institutions within American culture that are supposed to be protecting vulnerable children, pedophilia and child pornography abuses are thriving in a child sex trafficking network operated by the rich and powerful members of our society.
Do NOT be ignorant on this subject, as it is much more widespread than most realize, except, of course, for the victims who have suffered through it firsthand.
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