KC-area officer’s alleged Facebook post about pedophile ‘cure’ prompts investigation

Grain Valley police have started an internal investigation after an officer allegedly commented on Facebook that a bullet was a “universal medication that can cure” pedophiles.

The comment was brought to the attention of city leaders and Interim Chief James Beale in an email sent Monday with a screen capture of the comment and a couple of the officer’s Facebook profile pictures.

Beale said he has not been able to reach the officer to get his version of what happened because the officer is on vacation.

“Looking at pictures, it looks like him,” Beale said. “We haven’t spoken with him to verify that he posted that.”

Beale confirmed that there’s an internal investigation underway into the matter.

The officer allegedly commented that the medication to cure pedophiles “only comes in 9mm and has to be consumed at 1,200 ft/sec.”

In a second comment, the officer allegedly wrote that if someone was born being attracted to children, “they need to stop stealing the oxygen from the rest of the world.”

Upon seeing the post, Beale said he had “a regular human response.”

“I was kind of upset because I expect more from my officers,” he said.

Beale said he was also disappointed because the officer has been with the department for three years and knows how the department operates.

“There are certain guys you don’t expect that type of behavior from, and he’s one,” Beale said.

Matt A. Feyerabend, of Siloam Springs, Ark., said he sent the email to city leaders after noticing the officer commented on a friend’s post. Feyerabend, who grew up in Blue Springs, said he doesn’t know the officer.

Feyerabend’s friend had posted a TEDx Talk video last week in which the speaker appeared to be normalizing pedophilia by saying it was normal but not something to act upon. Feyerabend said he doesn’t agree with that point of view.

“I was equally creeped out by it,” Feyerabend said. “I thought it was very disturbing, but I didn’t think an officer of the law should be responding the way he did.”

At first, Feyerabend didn’t realize that the officer’s comment was coming from someone in law enforcement. Feyerabend responded to him saying he hoped he didn’t seek a position with power of authority.

His friend responded: Uh oh.

At that point, Feyerabend asked in a comment if the person was already an officer. He also checked out the officer’s Facebook page, which indicated that he might be.

Minutes after asking that question, the entire post, along with the comments by the officer, were deleted.

“Their reaction indicated to me that they knew that those comments were inappropriate and they could be troublesome” for the officer, Feyerabend said.

After doing some basic searching, Feyerabend was able to determine the person was an officer with the Grain Valley Police Department.

He decided to send the email to city leaders and the police department, saying he felt the matter should be brought to the attention of the officer’s supervisors.

The officer’s references to “9mm” and 1,200 feet per second was the part of the post that Feyerabend found most concerning. He thinks the officer might have been referring to his service weapon.

“If the weapon he carries is a 9mm and it does in fact fire 1,200 feet per second, he is clearly explicitly referring to his service weapon as the cure for criminality and he gets to act solely as the judge, jury and executioner,” he said.

Beale wouldn’t comment on possible discipline, saying he would like to have all the facts before discipline is considered.

“We are going to conduct the internal investigation and if it does turn out he violated city policy, we will impose the appropriate discipline,” Beale said.

Beale said he doesn’t condone the comments and he sent an email to Feyerabend apologizing for the comments.

“I know that doesn’t take it (the comments) away, but I just want him to understand that’s not how we as a police department and as a city conduct business,” Beale said.

Feyerabend said he was happy with the response and that the department was taking the matter seriously.

“We want to be supportive of our police,” he said. “They need our support, they need our encouragement and they need all the resources we can give them. But at the same time, we can’t stand for situations where people with that much authority are acting and behaving in ways they think their authority is unlimited.”

This story was originally published July 25, 2018 at 10:32 AM.