The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating a complaint that “intimate” photographs of a department employee were being shared online, possibly by a former LAPD employee.
The department confirmed Friday that an internal affairs investigation has been launched into the allegations and that the department is cooperating with an external criminal investigation into the matter.
“The Los Angeles Police Department does not tolerate sexual harassment of any kind and will take every measure possible to protect our employee and hold any responsible individual accountable,” LAPD Chief Michel Moore said in a statement. “If the investigation reveals that a Department employee engaged in this serious misconduct, the employee will be subject to disciplinary action up to and including the possibility of dismissal and criminal prosecution.”
The news was first reported by the NBC4 I-Team. The department did not disclose further details about the allegations.
The incident comes on the heels of three other troubling LAPD nude photo scandals that have come to light in recent years.
Officer Brady Lamas was charged in December by the Los Angeles County district attorney with six counts of disorderly conduct for sending nude photographs of his wife, who was also an officer, to other LAPD colleagues along with other men, according to a criminal complaint.
Los Angeles police said Lamas had been assigned to his home since January 2023, when the investigation began.
“My own husband is a predator and took advantage of me,” his wife wrote in court documents. “I would have preferred him to punch me in the face.”
In September, Los Angeles Police Captain Lillian Carranza was awarded $4 million for a nude photograph that was doctored to look like it was taken of her and then shared throughout the department.
In 2020, LAPD Det. Ysabel Villegas reached a $1.5 million settlement with the city over allegations that another officer assaulted and blackmailed her, threatening to share explicit images of her if he ended her relationship.
