Posted on
Monday, September 10, 2007
Monday, September 10, 2007
Former Officer Preyed On Women
EDITORS NOTE: This is the second article in a two-part series regarding former Jacksonville Police Officer Larry Pugh. It is the policy of the Tyler Morning Telegraph to not identify the victims of sexual assault to protect their identity and encourage the reporting of such crimes.
By CASEY KNAUPP
Staff Writer
It seemed Larry Pugh, a married father of four young children, lived a life devoted to upholding the law and helping others.
The 34-year-old began an exemplary career in law enforcement more than a decade ago.
By CASEY KNAUPP
Staff Writer
It seemed Larry Pugh, a married father of four young children, lived a life devoted to upholding the law and helping others.
The 34-year-old began an exemplary career in law enforcement more than a decade ago.
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Now, stripped of his badge, he is serving time in federal prison for forcing women to gratify his sexual desires and for assaulting one of his victims who reported the abuse.
Pugh has pleaded guilty in federal and state courts to sexually assaulting two women while he was in uniform and for retaliation.
No one seemed to suspect Pugh's dark side until one woman came forward and reported being sexually abused by the officer. Others followed and so far, nine women have made claims against Pugh in three lawsuits.
EXEMPLARY RECORD
Pugh graduated from Broaddus High School, located in San Augustine County, in 1991 and was voted "Most Likely to Succeed." He studied criminal justice at Angelina College in Lufkin and became a licensed peace officer and telecommunications operator.
Before entering law enforcement, Pugh worked as a painter, a shop helper, a sales clerk, a meat wrapper, a housekeeper and a pizza delivery driver, as well as a security officer at the Lufkin Mall, Wal-Mart and a farm products mill.
He worked as a 911 dispatcher for the Lufkin Police Department before becoming a reserve officer at Rusk Police Department in February 1996. After nearly a year, he became a fulltime officer there. After nearly another year, he resigned and briefly worked at two other law enforcement agencies before joining the Jacksonville Police Department.
A former district attorney wrote a letter to the Rusk chief of police, praising the hard work of Pugh and other officers in a shooting case in 1999. "Both officers exhibited a devotion to duty far exceeding acceptable standards in a case such as this," he said.
Family members of a person who died in a car accident praised Pugh in 1998 in a letter written to the department. "A special thanks to Officer Larry Pugh who investigated the accident ... he is highly commended for his expertise, kindness and keeping us informed and visiting with members of the family at different times."
In a letter Pugh wrote to the Tyler Morning Telegraph Feb. 20, 2007, Pugh stressed that he was a good cop. "I have a 10-year history of sound credibility and dedication in law enforcement. My tenure at Jacksonville PD as a true opponent of illegal drugs, users and dealers and its scourge on the community is an outstanding record based on undisputable facts."
Jacksonville Assistant Police Chief John Page worked with Pugh since he was hired in 2003 and said the young officer did a good job, was proactive with narcotics enforcement and made a lot of good arrests.
However, beginning in 2005, Page began to learn of Pugh's darker side.
Pugh has pleaded guilty in federal and state courts to sexually assaulting two women while he was in uniform and for retaliation.
No one seemed to suspect Pugh's dark side until one woman came forward and reported being sexually abused by the officer. Others followed and so far, nine women have made claims against Pugh in three lawsuits.
EXEMPLARY RECORD
Pugh graduated from Broaddus High School, located in San Augustine County, in 1991 and was voted "Most Likely to Succeed." He studied criminal justice at Angelina College in Lufkin and became a licensed peace officer and telecommunications operator.
Before entering law enforcement, Pugh worked as a painter, a shop helper, a sales clerk, a meat wrapper, a housekeeper and a pizza delivery driver, as well as a security officer at the Lufkin Mall, Wal-Mart and a farm products mill.
He worked as a 911 dispatcher for the Lufkin Police Department before becoming a reserve officer at Rusk Police Department in February 1996. After nearly a year, he became a fulltime officer there. After nearly another year, he resigned and briefly worked at two other law enforcement agencies before joining the Jacksonville Police Department.
A former district attorney wrote a letter to the Rusk chief of police, praising the hard work of Pugh and other officers in a shooting case in 1999. "Both officers exhibited a devotion to duty far exceeding acceptable standards in a case such as this," he said.
Family members of a person who died in a car accident praised Pugh in 1998 in a letter written to the department. "A special thanks to Officer Larry Pugh who investigated the accident ... he is highly commended for his expertise, kindness and keeping us informed and visiting with members of the family at different times."
In a letter Pugh wrote to the Tyler Morning Telegraph Feb. 20, 2007, Pugh stressed that he was a good cop. "I have a 10-year history of sound credibility and dedication in law enforcement. My tenure at Jacksonville PD as a true opponent of illegal drugs, users and dealers and its scourge on the community is an outstanding record based on undisputable facts."
Jacksonville Assistant Police Chief John Page worked with Pugh since he was hired in 2003 and said the young officer did a good job, was proactive with narcotics enforcement and made a lot of good arrests.
However, beginning in 2005, Page began to learn of Pugh's darker side.
VIOLENT LOCATION: Resthaven cemetery in Jacksonville site of one of Pugh’s alleged rapes.
THE INVESTIGATION
In June 2005, Page met a woman who claimed Pugh had sex with her. He said the woman seemed intoxicated so he arranged to interview her the next day. She never showed.
A week later, Page said a second woman left him a message, also alleging Pugh had sex with her.
Page said he couldn't find either woman and had no evidence to corroborate their claims. But he was concerned that two women had made outcries.
"I was coming out in the middle of the night and on weekends trying to find her," he said.
Page asked other women on the street about Pugh but none made outcries of inappropriate behavior.
At the end of July, 2005, Page located one of Pugh's accusers but she refused to talk. Concerned the potential victim was afraid to confide in him because he worked with Pugh, Page asked Joe Evans, a Cherokee County district attorney investigator, for help.
Page learned the woman was on probation and planned for Evans to interview her when she met with her probation officer. But the woman quit reporting. In October 2005, she was jailed for violating probation and Evans interviewed her behind bars.
Another woman who was also in jail told the investigator that she too had been sexually assaulted by Pugh.
The woman claimed Pugh picked her up at a residence and arrested her. But instead of taking her to jail, he drove her to a cemetery and raped her before taking her back to the home where she had been staying with two other people.
"We've got something here," Evans reported to Page.
Pugh was immediately suspended from the police force, Page said.
One potential witness led to another and Evans eventually talked to about 30 people, which included victims and people they had told about the sexual abuse.
With mounting evidence that a peace officer was committing sex crimes, the FBI was called in to lead the investigation.
From the beginning, the Jacksonville Police Department took the accusations seriously. "We did everything we could to try and resolve it," Page said.
In February 2006, a federal grand jury returned sealed indictments against Pugh and he was terminated from the department.
THE VICTIMS
Investigators and court records suggest Pugh carefully selected the women he approached on his late-night patrols.
Evans said the women lived on the street and had drug or legal problems.
They were "the type of people you would generally say are not credible," he testified during Pugh's civil trial in June.
Eight out of the nine women who accused Pugh of sexual assault are among those he previously had arrested for drug offenses.
Pugh, in the Feb. 20 letter to the Tyler Morning Telegraph, said, "My accusers, one and all, are crack cocaine addicts and/or prostitutes. They are without the credibility or morals of the decent upstanding citizens of Jacksonville and Cherokee County."
In the civil trial against Pugh, the victim testified that when Pugh raped her in March 2005, she was a crack addict living mostly on the streets.
The divorced mother of two grown children had been arrested more times than she could count for charges such as public intoxication and possession of drug paraphernalia.
After being raped, she said she did not go to the police or receive medical treatment because she was afraid. Only after her daughter insisted she tell, did she come forward.
Evans said Pugh stared investigators down while being questioned and was one of the coldest people he has ever interviewed during his nearly 40 years in law enforcement.
After a woman gave victim allocution about how she still fears her perpetrator during Pugh's sentencing hearing in federal court, Pugh turned and glared at the woman in the audience until he was instructed to look the other way.
"I'm afraid he's going to come after me when he gets out," she had said, crying.
MAINTAINING INNOCENCE
Even though he has pleaded guilty to the charges, in letters to colleagues, the community and the media, Pugh has portrayed himself as a victim.
He is now facing a perjury charge for lying under oath concerning his guilt in federal court.
Pugh has written the Tyler Morning Telegraph four times while behind bars, each time maintaining his innocence.
"I pled guilty, not because I am guilty, as I believed it in the best interest of my four young children," he wrote Dec. 21, 2006. "At trial, prosecution would have sought a sentence of 30 years to life ... The prosecution seeks justice for the system more so than the alleged victims, having chosen me as an example to other law enforcement officers."
"... My family, now homeless and welfare dependants ... are real victims in this case."
A letter Pugh wrote to his fellow Jacksonville police officers on Nov. 10, 2005, shortly after his suspension, called for sympathy.
"This has been a very stressful and emotional time for me and my family. Jennifer (Pugh's wife) is within four weeks of giving birth to our fourth child. Because of my suspension I am no longer able to work my two part-time jobs," he wrote.
He asked that all of his "coworkers and friends" stand by him and his family.
"I would not wish my current situation on anyone. I want you all to know that any one of you could be in the same situation; all it takes is one complaint."
REBUILDING TRUST
Cherokee County District Attorney Elmer Beckworth said his office has dismissed just about every case Pugh was involved in. When Pugh acted as the principal officer, seized evidence or his credibility was an issue, the case was dismissed, he said.
After his office learned of the sexual assault allegations, Beckworth reviewed police reports and videos from Pugh's cases and could see his cases were different than those of other officers. Pugh had more cases with very small quantities of drugs and Beckworth is concerned that Pugh may have planted drugs in some of the women's cases.
"The possibility of planting drugs was higher (with Pugh) than any other" officer, he said.
Pugh had cases involving males that didn't follow the pattern, which may have been good cases but had to be dismissed.
Jacksonville Police Chief Reece Daniel is left with rebuilding the tarnished trust the community has for law enforcement.
He was hired after former Police Chief Mark Johnson resigned during the Pugh scandal.
It has been hard on the good officers, Daniel said, but most of them have stuck with it through the hard times.
Since Pugh's criminal conduct has come to light, the department has become more focused on training and pickier about who it hires, he said, adding that Pugh's reputation has hindered recruiting efforts.
Fear and doubt still linger in the minds of some citizens, Daniel said.
Nearly two years after Pugh traded his police uniform for a prison jumpsuit, there is still some hesitation for females to stop for red and blue flashing lights in the city of Jacksonville.
"If this man (Pugh) can do it, so can another officer," he said about the public's perception of the possibility of a bad cop still being on the police force.
Daniel said some people continue to say, "You're all just like Larry Pugh."
And he knows some always will.
In June 2005, Page met a woman who claimed Pugh had sex with her. He said the woman seemed intoxicated so he arranged to interview her the next day. She never showed.
A week later, Page said a second woman left him a message, also alleging Pugh had sex with her.
Page said he couldn't find either woman and had no evidence to corroborate their claims. But he was concerned that two women had made outcries.
"I was coming out in the middle of the night and on weekends trying to find her," he said.
Page asked other women on the street about Pugh but none made outcries of inappropriate behavior.
At the end of July, 2005, Page located one of Pugh's accusers but she refused to talk. Concerned the potential victim was afraid to confide in him because he worked with Pugh, Page asked Joe Evans, a Cherokee County district attorney investigator, for help.
Page learned the woman was on probation and planned for Evans to interview her when she met with her probation officer. But the woman quit reporting. In October 2005, she was jailed for violating probation and Evans interviewed her behind bars.
Another woman who was also in jail told the investigator that she too had been sexually assaulted by Pugh.
The woman claimed Pugh picked her up at a residence and arrested her. But instead of taking her to jail, he drove her to a cemetery and raped her before taking her back to the home where she had been staying with two other people.
"We've got something here," Evans reported to Page.
Pugh was immediately suspended from the police force, Page said.
One potential witness led to another and Evans eventually talked to about 30 people, which included victims and people they had told about the sexual abuse.
With mounting evidence that a peace officer was committing sex crimes, the FBI was called in to lead the investigation.
From the beginning, the Jacksonville Police Department took the accusations seriously. "We did everything we could to try and resolve it," Page said.
In February 2006, a federal grand jury returned sealed indictments against Pugh and he was terminated from the department.
THE VICTIMS
Investigators and court records suggest Pugh carefully selected the women he approached on his late-night patrols.
Evans said the women lived on the street and had drug or legal problems.
They were "the type of people you would generally say are not credible," he testified during Pugh's civil trial in June.
Eight out of the nine women who accused Pugh of sexual assault are among those he previously had arrested for drug offenses.
Pugh, in the Feb. 20 letter to the Tyler Morning Telegraph, said, "My accusers, one and all, are crack cocaine addicts and/or prostitutes. They are without the credibility or morals of the decent upstanding citizens of Jacksonville and Cherokee County."
In the civil trial against Pugh, the victim testified that when Pugh raped her in March 2005, she was a crack addict living mostly on the streets.
The divorced mother of two grown children had been arrested more times than she could count for charges such as public intoxication and possession of drug paraphernalia.
After being raped, she said she did not go to the police or receive medical treatment because she was afraid. Only after her daughter insisted she tell, did she come forward.
Evans said Pugh stared investigators down while being questioned and was one of the coldest people he has ever interviewed during his nearly 40 years in law enforcement.
After a woman gave victim allocution about how she still fears her perpetrator during Pugh's sentencing hearing in federal court, Pugh turned and glared at the woman in the audience until he was instructed to look the other way.
"I'm afraid he's going to come after me when he gets out," she had said, crying.
MAINTAINING INNOCENCE
Even though he has pleaded guilty to the charges, in letters to colleagues, the community and the media, Pugh has portrayed himself as a victim.
He is now facing a perjury charge for lying under oath concerning his guilt in federal court.
Pugh has written the Tyler Morning Telegraph four times while behind bars, each time maintaining his innocence.
"I pled guilty, not because I am guilty, as I believed it in the best interest of my four young children," he wrote Dec. 21, 2006. "At trial, prosecution would have sought a sentence of 30 years to life ... The prosecution seeks justice for the system more so than the alleged victims, having chosen me as an example to other law enforcement officers."
"... My family, now homeless and welfare dependants ... are real victims in this case."
A letter Pugh wrote to his fellow Jacksonville police officers on Nov. 10, 2005, shortly after his suspension, called for sympathy.
"This has been a very stressful and emotional time for me and my family. Jennifer (Pugh's wife) is within four weeks of giving birth to our fourth child. Because of my suspension I am no longer able to work my two part-time jobs," he wrote.
He asked that all of his "coworkers and friends" stand by him and his family.
"I would not wish my current situation on anyone. I want you all to know that any one of you could be in the same situation; all it takes is one complaint."
REBUILDING TRUST
Cherokee County District Attorney Elmer Beckworth said his office has dismissed just about every case Pugh was involved in. When Pugh acted as the principal officer, seized evidence or his credibility was an issue, the case was dismissed, he said.
After his office learned of the sexual assault allegations, Beckworth reviewed police reports and videos from Pugh's cases and could see his cases were different than those of other officers. Pugh had more cases with very small quantities of drugs and Beckworth is concerned that Pugh may have planted drugs in some of the women's cases.
"The possibility of planting drugs was higher (with Pugh) than any other" officer, he said.
Pugh had cases involving males that didn't follow the pattern, which may have been good cases but had to be dismissed.
Jacksonville Police Chief Reece Daniel is left with rebuilding the tarnished trust the community has for law enforcement.
He was hired after former Police Chief Mark Johnson resigned during the Pugh scandal.
It has been hard on the good officers, Daniel said, but most of them have stuck with it through the hard times.
Since Pugh's criminal conduct has come to light, the department has become more focused on training and pickier about who it hires, he said, adding that Pugh's reputation has hindered recruiting efforts.
Fear and doubt still linger in the minds of some citizens, Daniel said.
Nearly two years after Pugh traded his police uniform for a prison jumpsuit, there is still some hesitation for females to stop for red and blue flashing lights in the city of Jacksonville.
"If this man (Pugh) can do it, so can another officer," he said about the public's perception of the possibility of a bad cop still being on the police force.
Daniel said some people continue to say, "You're all just like Larry Pugh."
And he knows some always will.
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