Washington, D.C., police announced on April 14 that they had placed one of their lieutenants, Matthew Mahr, on administrative leave and revoked his police powers after receiving information that he had been arrested a day earlier in Maryland.
D.C. police’s initial statement did not give a reason for the arrest, but referred to a statement from the Harford County Sheriff’s Office in Maryland that revealed Mahr was charged with sexual solicitation of a minor and solicitation of child pornography.
“On Tuesday, the Harford County Sheriff’s Office contacted the Metropolitan Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division immediately after arresting Lt. Matthew Mahr,” a D.C. police statement said.
“The allegations in this case are deeply disturbing and antithetical to the values of the Metropolitan Police,” the statement continues. “The Metropolitan Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division will investigate violations of Metropolitan Police Department policy once the criminal investigation is complete.”
“The Metropolitan Police Department is not involved in the criminal investigation and was not aware of its existence until yesterday,” the statement added.
Mr Mahr was acting director of the Metropolitan Police’s Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit in 2013, when he held the rank of sergeant. D.C. police officials placed him on administrative leave and suspended his police powers that same year while investigating undisclosed charges.
Mahr was soon cleared of any wrongdoing and returned to police duty, according to a person familiar with the investigation. Years later, around the time Mahr was promoted to lieutenant, he became president of the D.C. police union, making him the first known openly gay police officer to hold that position.
Mahr, 47, has been with the police force for 23 years and was most recently assigned to the department’s Special Operations Division, NBC 4 reported.
According to records related to Mahr’s arrest filed in Harford County District Court, sheriff’s office investigators say in charging documents that Mahr is suspected of committing crimes of sexual solicitation of a minor and solicitation of child pornography on Monday, April 13, the day before his April 14 arrest.
He was being held without bail at his first court appearance on April 14, according to court records. A decision on whether he would be released pending trial or remain in custody without bail was scheduled to be decided at an April 15 bail hearing. The outcome of that hearing was not immediately determined.
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