Ex-KCK detective Roger Golubski, long accused of corruption, arrested by the FBI
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Allegations against former KCK cop Roger Golubski
The Star has reported extensively on former Kansas City, Kansas, detective Roger Golubski and allegations that he victimized Black women during his years on the force.
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Former Kansas City, Kansas, police detective Roger Golubski, who has long been accused of corruption and raping vulnerable Black women, was arrested Thursday by the FBI.
Golubski, 69, was indicted on six federal counts of deprivation of civil rights for allegedly sexually assaulting two women multiple times from 1998 to 2002.
Photographs taken by a neighbor show Golubski’s arrest by FBI agents Thursday morning at his home in Edwardsville.
The FBI confirmed Golubski’s arrest, but said “no additional information” could be released.
Golubski retired in 2010 from the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department as a captain after 35 years on the force. After leaving KCK, and collecting his pension, he went to the Edwardsville Police Department, where he worked as a detective until 2016.
Egregious accusations against Golubski came to light in the exoneration of Lamonte McIntyre, who was freed in 2017 after serving 23 years for a double homicide he did not commit. A lawsuit he filed accused Golubski of not only using his position to sexually abuse Black women, but of framing innocent people for crimes committed by others, including drug dealers who paid him.
Earlier this year, the Unified Government settled McIntyre’s lawsuit for $12.5 million — the largest public wrongful conviction settlement in Kansas history.
The Star could not reach Golubski on Thursday. This week, a Star reporter visited his Edwardsville home seeking comment for another story. No one answered the door, but Golubski left a voicemail at the newspaper Tuesday night saying he would comment soon.
Ophelia Williams, who alleges Golubski raped her in 1999, told The Star that an FBI agent called her early Thursday morning and said she had Golubski in handcuffs. The agent did not tell her what Golubki had been arrested for.
“She put him in handcuffs herself,” Williams said. “I was so happy. Oh so happy. Crying and stuff.”
In a statement, Metro Organization for Racial and Economic Equity, a social justice group that has long called for Golubski to be arrested, said its leaders “rarely celebrate an indictment,” but that this one was well deserved.
“The arrest of Roger Golubski is a long overdue message to the community that the police are not immune from prosecution when they break the law,” said David Grummon, an attorney and MORE2 board member. “More importantly, it signals that it’s now safe for the rest of his victims to come forward, report what he did, and, hopefully, finally have an opportunity to pursue justice.”
A neighbor, who declined to provide her name, said she saw Golubski get arrested before 7 a.m.
“The occupants of 706, come out with your hands up,” she heard FBI agents yell.
Photographs the neighbor provided to The Star show Golubski getting arrested. He was wearing a T-shirt and athletic shorts.
In 2019, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation started its own investigation into Golubski and the next year said it had shared with authorities information about “possible federal violations.”
News that a federal grand jury was investigating Golubski broke in October 2021. In response to news reports about the proceedings, KCKPD said it had been responding to subpoenas from the FBI since 2019.
Social justice organizers as well as Melinda Henneberger, a former Star columnist who won the Pulitzer Prize for chronicling Golubski’s alleged crimes, have for years called for his arrest.
Other organizations, such as Team Roc, the social justice arm of rapper Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, and the Kansas City-based Midwest Innocence Project have urged federal officials to open a broader investigation into alleged police corruption in KCK.
Golubski became a detective in 1986, was promoted to captain in 2002 and retired in 2010. He has largely remained silent about the many accusations against him.
In 2020, Golubski was asked during a deposition as part of the McIntyre case if he understood he was being accused of “raping women and coercing women into giving false testimony, some of the grossest acts of corruption a police officer can commit.” He declined to respond 555 times during that deposition.
“On the advice of my attorney, I invoke my Fifth Amendment Constitutional Rights,” Golubski replied.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
This story was originally published September 15, 2022 at 9:17 AM.
