A Wisconsin police officer has resigned following an internal investigation that showed he had sex nearly 100 times while on duty and violated numerous department polices and procedures, according to a report from the Hudson Star-Observer.
John Worden stepped down from the Hudson Police Department in western Wisconsin in mid-May after he admitted to the accusations, according to the Star-Observer.
“I screwed up,” he told the newspaper. “I’m sorry, and I’m not that person anymore – and I lost my job for it. It was a mistake. I hurt a lot of people, and it’s ruined my life.”
Worden could not immediately be reached for comment.
Police said that over an eight-month period, Worden spent about four to six hours during each workday making personal calls from his department-issued phone, fabricated his work logs 146 times, lied to a supervisor about what he did during work hours and had sex on the job about 98 times, according to documents obtained by the Hudson Star-Observer. Worden had been on the force since 2008.
Hudson Police Chief Marty Jensen told The Washington Post that the investigation into Worden’s actions stemmed from a complaint from a woman who claimed she had been in a relationship with Worden for months, the Star-Observer reported.
“On April 15, 2016 the Hudson Police Department received a citizen’s complaint alleging officer misconduct against Hudson Police Officer John Worden,” Jensen said in a statement. “Because of the seriousness of the complaint an internal investigation was initiated and Officer Worden was placed on administrative leave that same day. Based on the findings of the internal investigation Officer Worden was asked to resign from the Hudson Police Department. His resignation was effective May 13, 2016.”
Jensen did not speak further about the issue.
The woman told investigators she had been involved with Worden from June 2015 to February 2016 and that the two would have sex in Worden’s police SUV as well as at her home, according to the Star-Observer.
She said she filed a complaint partly because she was upset by how the relationship ended and partly because she was worried Worden would use his position to “really make her life miserable,” according to the report.
Hudson Police Lt. Geoff Willems, who helped investigate the allegations, wrote in the report that before the woman came forward, Worden had told him that he was being stalked by a woman “thinking the two of them could be involved in a romantic relationship,” according to the report. Weeks later, a woman contacted police, accusing Worden of officer misconduct.
The Star-Observer reported:
Willems reviewed Worden’s daily work logs from June 2015 to February 2016 and had data pulled from the department-issued phone he used. Several thousand text messages and phone calls were found each month that were placed to four numbers. Willems noted that “there was minimal activity” on the squad cellphone during days Worden wasn’t working.
“Thinking back to my conversations in early March with Officer Worden regarding (the woman), these phone records did not support his claims that she was stalking him,” Willems wrote in the report.
Worden, accompanied by the Hudson Police Union president and the Wisconsin Professional Police Association business agent, was interviewed April 20.
In the interview with Willems, Worden admitted to having a sexual relationship with the complainant – and made clear the activity did not occur on his personal time.
“I only saw her or spoke to her while I was on duty,” Worden said to Willems, the report states, noting that he exclusively used police equipment “to avoid getting caught” by his significant other.
Worden’s statement to Willems largely corroborated the allegations laid out by the woman about sex on duty. He said he did not enter his time with the woman on his work log, but considered the interludes part of his break time.
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Worden told the Star-Observer he was sorry for his actions but he did not believe they should be publicized in the news media.
“I don’t think it’s fair,” he said, “and I don’t get to know who did that to me.”
(c) 2016, The Washington Post ยท Lindsey Bever
