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| Photo Credit: AP. |
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A former Kansas City, Kansas, police detective who has long been accused of sexually preying on Black women during criminal investigations was indicted Thursday on charges that he sexually abused two women, the FBI said.
Roger
Golubski, 69, was arrested at his home in Edwardsville after a federal grand
jury indicted him on six counts of civil rights violations. He was expected to
make his first court appearance Thursday afternoon.
Golubski
retired in 2010 after working for the Kansas City (Kansas) Police Department
for 35 years. The FBI has been investigating allegations that Golubski, who is
white, sexually assaulted Black women in the city and exchanged drugs for
information during criminal investigations.
The federal
indictment announced Thursday accuses Golubski of sexually assaulting two
women, identified as S.K., and O.W., on several occasions between 1998 and
2002. The indictment does not state the race of the women.
He is
accused of raping both women and forcing them to perform oral sex on him
several times in his vehicle and at the women’s homes. Golubski’s conduct
included aggravated sexual abuse and kidnapping, according to the indictment.
If convicted
of any of the counts, Golubski could be sentenced to life in prison.
Golubski’s
attorney, Morgan Roach, didn’t immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
Civil rights
groups for years sought an investigation into Golubski’s conduct. The
allegations against him drew more attention after Lamont McIntyre, who spent 23
years in prison for a double murder he didn’t commit, sued Golubski and other
Kansas City, Kansas, officers after he was released.
McIntyre and
his mother, Rose McIntyre, alleged in the lawsuit that Golubski framed Lamont
for a double homicide in 1994 because she refused the detective’s sexual
demands. The local government agreed in June to settle the lawsuit for $12.5
million.
When deposed
by McIntyre’s lawyers in the case, Golubski invoked his Fifth Amendment right
against self-incrimination hundreds of times. He has consistently declined
media requests to comment on the allegations.
Cheryl
Pilate and Lindsay Runnels, attorneys for the McIntyres, commended federal law
enforcement agencies on the arrest.
“We are
hopeful the justice system delivers the accountability that the Kansas City,
Kansas community deserves,” they said in a statement.
The Midwest
Innocence Project, a civil rights group that works to free wrongfully convicted
inmates, said in a statement that Golubski’s arrest was “the first step” in
finding justice for those harmed by law enforcement officials, particularly
Black women.
“A full
investigation into the abuses in Wyandotte County and systemic reforms are
needed to ensure that no other police officers and public officials can
continue to abuse their power,” the organization said in a news release.
In 2020, a
coalition of Kansas lawmakers, religious leaders and racial justice advocates
asked the Kansas Bureau of Investigation to investigate Golubski and other
members of the department who were accused of misconduct and abuse.
And in 2021,
an organization run by rapper Jay-Z filed a petition seeking records from the
police department related to what it called a history of officer misconduct
within the department.