Posted on 09/26/2003 3:25:38 PM PDT by Brian S
SEAT PLEASANT, Md., 6:07 p.m. EDT September 26, 2003 -
The police chief of Seat Pleasant, Md., was released from jail Friday after sex charges were filed against him this week.
FBI agents arrested Chief Ronald C. Forrest, 39, on Thursday. He had an initial court appearance Friday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Md.
Forrest was released to the custody of his brother and has been placed on home detention. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Oct. 15.
Under the conditions of his release, Forrest is not allowed to use the Internet and he cannot have any contact with his daughter, who is currently with her mother.
According to an FBI affidavit, Forrest faces charges of interstate transport of a minor to make a sexually explicit image, enticing a child to travel across state lines to have sex, and interstate transportation of a minor with the intent to have sex.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.com ...
Forrest, chief of the Seat Pleasant force since 1998, created and ran the Junior Police Program that the alleged victim was enrolled in, according to the affidavit. The program is designed to teach leadership, discipline and enhance "the quality of life consistent with the values of law enforcement," according to the city's Web site.
The FBI said a woman who knew Forrest obtained a photo album containing pornographic images of underage males from Forrest's home in Clinton and gave it to agents earlier this month. The woman said she recognized some boys in the photos as participants in Forrest's program, the affidavit said.
She also told the FBI that Forrest would occasionally pick up program participants and have them spend the night at his home, according to the affidavit.
The alleged victim in the case, now 15, told the FBI he repeatedly declined Forrest's request to take pictures of him. However, he said he agreed in 2000 after Forrest offered to pay him $50 or $80, according to the affidavit.
He also said Forrest performed oral sex on him around the time the photos were taken. He told agents he was 12 or 13 years old at the time. The teenager also said he spent a week at Forrest's home in July.
The police department in Seat Pleasant, a town of about 5,000 residents, has about a dozen officers and staff. The department referred all questions about the case to the office of Mayor Eugene F. Kennedy, who did not immediately return a call Friday seeking comment.
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