Ex-Philadelphia police officer hit with new charges related to alleged sex crimes
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A former Philadelphia police officer is accused of a startling number of sex crimes — the victim account is nearly two dozen, according to prosecutors.
They detailed the new information at a late afternoon news conference on Tuesday.
Patrick Heron was gone from the Philadelphia Police force at the time he was charged with sexually assaulting girls at the former Austin Meehan Middle School in Mayfair.
Now, the former officer has been hit with 233 new charges that prosecutors say stem from alleged sex crimes involving 19 people who have since come forward after those first charges were made public last spring.
The District Attorney's Office says some of the victims have yet to be identified — but video evidence apparently captured Heron assaulting them.
"We have a lot of video evidence in this case that we were able to recover now as a part of this investigation. Several of those videos are currently charged as Jane Doe because we don't know every person who he victimized, but we know that they're out there," Assistant District Attorney Lyandra Retacco said.
Retacco said she couldn't provide many details about the case, but told reporters the assaults spanned a dozen years - between 2005 and 2017 - and happened while Heron was a Philadelphia Police officer.
"The way that Mr. Heron carried himself while he was a police officer, and while he was off the clock, is an alarming set of circumstances," Retacco said.
Prosecutors say Heron's troubles with the law first surfaced in, of all things, a social media dispute. They say wielding influence, he exacted revenge on Facebook and then crafted a fake court order to intimidate his alleged victims.
Heron was arraigned Tuesday night on $111 million bail.
Prosecutors say they're asking that he be held without bail pending trial arguing he is a danger to the community.
Heron's attorney had no comment.
"These latest allegations against former police officer Patrick Heron are beyond disturbing. We ask anyone with additional information in the alleged criminal conduct of Patrick Heron to immediately contact authorities," Sgt. Eric Gripp of the Philadelphia Police Department said in a statement.
Anyone who believes they may have been a victim is encouraged to call the DA's special investigations unit at 215-686-9608.
