Retired Flint Police Officer Faces 16 Counts Of Sexually Assaulting Children On Duty

A former Flint police officer is facing 16 counts of sexual assault, according to a new report from MLive. If that isn’t bad enough, though, the sexual assaults are alleged to have taken place against children while the officer was on duty from 1996 to 1999.

Lawrence B. Woods, 66, has been accused of abusing his role as a Flint police officer to lure in children and abuse them sexually.

Prosecutors claim that the incidents took place in a variety of locales while Woods was supposed to be serving the people of Flint, Michigan. Among the alleged locations were the police department, police vehicles, and on other city property.

Woods is being represented by Frank Manley.

“We understand the allegations are very serious,” Manley said. “Obviously, we are in the initial portion of our investigation, but we expect to have a successful outcome.”

Woods is held without bond in the Genesee County Jail, the website notes.

Police stormed the home of the retired Flint police officer on September 4 and uncovered what they claim to be large amounts of child pornography.

“These victims were photographed, we believe, by him in his apartment and at a local hotel room,” said Sgt. Karl Petrich of the Flint Police Department in a news conference on Friday.

Petrich told the press there were “hundreds” of photographs of people who were believed to be minors at the time.

(Woods would have been between the ages of 48 and 51.)

Prosecutors indicated that if Woods is convicted of the crimes, said conviction will carry with it a minimum of 25 years.

Genesee County Sheriff Robert Pickell, who was in attendance at the news conference, commended Flint Police for investigating “one of their own with no stone unturned,” adding that it told the community “no one is above the law.”

The next action in the case of the accused Flint police officer will be a preliminary examination, and it is currently scheduled for October 2.

Unfortunately, this is more negative press for police departments across the country. There has been a big spotlight on these public servants since the Ferguson, Missouri, shooting and the fallout that has occurred as a result.

Other than these allegations, the latest bad news to break comes with the arrest of an Atlanta policeman in a gruesome Craigslist killing.

Do you think the Atlanta and Flint police officer cases are exceptions to the rule, or should we fundamentally change our selection process for whom we allow to wear the badge?