Court papers: Cop suspended for unlawfully recording sex encounter
Christopher Stafford, 27, a Rockville Centre police officer, has been charged with unlawful surveillance. Credit: NCPD
A Rockville Centre police officer has been suspended without pay after being charged with secretly recording a sexual encounter in his bedroom, according to officials and court records.
Christopher Stafford, 27 of East Meadow, was charged with second-degree unlawful surveillance, a felony, in connection with the Feb. 9 encounter with the unnamed woman, according to court documents.
Julie Scully, a spokeswoman for the Village of Rockville Centre, said Stafford, who was sworn in on March 6, 2017, has been suspended without pay and his badge and gun were taken from him.
“It would be inappropriate to comment further while this matter is under investigation,” Scully said.
Stafford’s attorney, William Petrillo of Garden City, said: “This is an off-duty, private matter between two consenting adults. We have information to share with the district attorney that we are confident will completely change the perception of this matter.”
Petrillo did not elaborate.
Jim Carty, president of the village police department’s Police Benevolent Association, declined to comment.
According to the felony complaint, Stafford sent the woman a photo from the video on the social media platform Snapchat on Friday. The woman, according to the complaint, “had the reasonable expectation of privacy in the defendant’s bedroom.”
Stafford, the complaint said, recorded the video “for his own amusement, entertainment and sexual arousal.”
The woman became aware of the video, the complaint said, when Stafford forwarded a photo from the video through Snapchat, with a caption reading: “just in case. Folder.”
Nassau County Police arrested Stafford at 11:15 p.m. Saturday, according to the complaint.
Det. Lt. Richard LeBrun, a Nassau police spokesman, confirmed Stafford’s arrest but declined to comment further about what he called a “domestic matter.”
Nassau County District Court Judge Tricia Ferrell gave Stafford a conditional release to the probation department and issued a stay away order of protection.
Stafford is due back in court on March 9.
Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.
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