FELONY SEXUAL ABUSE NOT CHARGED – State v. Mr. B (DMC No. 11566) (Scottsdale Police Department DR No. 15-04050): Allegations were made against Mr. B stating that he had Sexually Abused a young (over 18 years old) female clerk at a dry cleaner’s store by forcing his hands into her clothing and touching her on her vagina and breasts. At the time of these allegations of Sexual Abuse per Arizona Revised Statute ARS 13-1404, Mr. B was a 50-year-old, married businessman in Scottsdale, Arizona. The complaining party was a clerk at a dry cleaners in Scottsdale frequented by Mr. B. The young woman stated that Mr. B had talked with her in times past and had told her that he worked in the modeling industry and wanted her to model for his agency. The complaining party indicated that she was interested in the opportunity and communicated with Mr. B through text messaging. She stated that Mr. B requested that she take photos of herself and send the photos to him through text messaging. She then claimed that Mr. B offered her $100 in exchange for a photo of her breasts.
The complaining party stated that Mr. B came to pick up his dry cleaning and she was alone at the shop with Mr. B when said he wanted to see her breasts in the context of evaluating her for modeling purposes. She claimed that she lifted her shirt and her bra to expose her breasts for him to see. She then claimed that he offered her $600 in exchange for sex. She claimed that she rejected that offer and that Mr. B then grabbed her hand and pulled it toward his groin. She then claimed that he unbuttoned her pants and reached his hand into her pants and beneath her underwear. She claimed that he touched her vagina without any penetration occurring and that he also reached under her shirt and bra and touched her breasts. She claimed that she repeatedly told him to stop doing that.
She said that as he left, he threw a $100 bill on the counter and called her a slut. She claimed that she texted him later that evening stating “that was really wrong.” She said that he responded saying that he knew it was wrong but couldn’t help himself saying, “I’m sorry I made you feel uncomfortable, I just wanted you.” She then stated that she told a friend who worked at the shop who then immediately contacted Mr. B to come to the dry cleaning shop to pick up his clothing. There was a heated exchange between Mr. B and the friend. Mr. B then came to the dry cleaning shop to pick up his clothes where there was another heated exchange between Mr. B and the friend. Mr. B purportedly told the friend that he was a police officer and showed her a badge.
The complaining party stated that she was worried that Mr. B would deny everything and, somewhat contradictorily, that she had deleted the text messages between the two of them. Detectives then attempted a couple of “confrontation calls” to Mr. B without success. Eventually they were able to contact Mr. B directly and conducted an interview with him. In his interview, Mr. B denied touching the complaining victim on her breasts or vagina, however he did admit to asking her how much he could get for $100. He also admitted that at one point in time, the young lady had disrobed partially for him, at his request, so that he could determine whether she was suitable for modeling. Mr. B also admitted to sending and receiving texts with the young lady in which she sent to him numerous photographs of herself in revealing clothing.
After retaining our office, our Pre-Charge team began to take immediate steps to head the case off. We immediately sent a letter of our representation to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, along with the request that should the case be presented to a grand jury, our client wished to be present and to testify. We also immediately reached out to the Scottsdale Police Department and advised
them that we represented Mr. B. Upon contacting the Detective, we advised that Mr. B was represented will not make further statements. The Detective requested that we provide copies of any photographs, emails, or text messages that were exchanged between the two. We declined to provide such information. We advised the Detective of our belief that this allegation was being driven by the young woman’s girlfriend who had seen some of the text messages and photos between the complainant and Mr. B. We also advised the Detective that Mr. B was not the initiator of the conversations, the physical contact, or the request for nude photographs. It was clear that the young woman had deleted the messages and photos to prevent her girlfriend from seeing any more of them. Shortly after our contact, the case was closed and the status was changed to an “inactive status.”
