A decorated hero for stopping the killing spree at Trolley Square, Ogden Police Officer Ken Hammond now finds himself facing a criminal charge.And again, whenever I have an "Only Ones" story like this, I'm compelled to ask the Eternal Question...
Weber County prosecutors charged Hammond late Monday afternoon with a single count of third-degree felony unlawful sexual conduct with a 16- or 17-year-old, accusing him of engaging in a sexual act with someone at least 10 years younger than he is. [More]
Because he IS the law, he doesn't have to OBEY the law.
ReplyDeleteAm I right?
I have no love for most cops, but it is wrong to rush to judgment here. He is innocent until proven guilty. If we cannot extend that to everyone, we can't claim it for ourselves.
ReplyDeleteWe can hope that both the investigation and the court case are fair and balanced. The fact that this alleged incident happened so long ago will make it very difficult to prove. So, unless there is solid evidence, I suspect this is either a publicity stunt or gold digging by the person complaining.
If a crime was committed, why wait so long? Something fishy here.
This "presumption of innocence" you refer to is something required of the court, but it does not bind anyone else from making their own conclusions. OJ Simpson, for example, is still presumed "innocent" of the two murders for which he was tried.
ReplyDeleteI suspect that the charges have considerable merit, being that the burden of proof necessary for a prosecutor to decide to bring charges against one of own celebrated police officers would be much, much higher than that needed to charge one of the little people under his jurisdiction.
16 or 17 is marriagable age in many cultures, Utah possibly being one of them. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.
ReplyDeleteAgeism is ridiculous. If he attacked someone he is scum. If it was consensual get over it.
ReplyDeleteRegardless of whether you think shagging someone else's teenaged daughter is a punishable crime, Officer Hammond cannot be allowed to get away with breaking the law while being empowered to arrest others ... for breaking the law.
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