AP: Trooper charged in child rape hid checkered FBI past

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By JIM MUSTIAN and KIM CHANDLER

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama state trooper arrested last week on charges he raped an 11-year-old girl had been kicked out of the FBI amid a string of sexual misconduct allegations but was hired by the state agency with the apparent help of a fake bureau letter that scrubbed his record clean.

An Associated Press investigation found Christopher Bauer was suspended without pay and stripped of his security clearance in the FBI’s New Orleans office in late 2018 — effectively fired — amid allegations that included a co-worker’s claim that he raped her at knifepoint.

But Alabama authorities either overlooked or were unaware of that history. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, the state police, told AP that it conducted a “full and thorough” investigation into Bauer’s background when he applied to be a trooper in 2019 and that “no derogatory comments were uncovered by former employers.”

Bauer indicated on his application that he was still employed by the FBI and had never been dismissed or forced to resign because of disciplinary action. And the state’s law enforcement credentialing commission provided AP a copy of a letter — purportedly from FBI headquarters — that makes no mention of Bauer’s ouster, confirms his decade of “creditable service” and deems him “eligible for rehire.”



This photo provided by the Montgomery County, Ala. Detention Center shows Christopher Bauer after his Tuesday, April 27, 2021 arrest. The Alabama state trooper who was arrested on charges he raped an 11-year-old girl had been kicked out of the FBI amid a string of sexual misconduct allegations but was hired by the state agency anyway with the apparent help of a fake bureau letter that scrubbed his record clean. (Montgomery County Detention Center via AP)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/ap-top-news-montgomery-new-orleans-alabama-police-8bd9d4cbe11cac4630e7057019d139a4

[Sapient Donkey]

1. He fooled a state law enforcement agency with a fake letter?

That doesn't seem like something that should be possible.

[marble falls]

2. This guy got the best training available on how to commit and get away with his crimes.

[left-of-center2012]

3. Bauer was ordered to surrender his "firearms, weapons, swords and knives" as part of the case.

swords ?

[stillcool]

4. no wonder why these psychotic cops

go from station to station. Who checks their employment history? Guess they can tell someone will fit right in, just by having a little chat.

[luckyexpat]

5. Alabama isn't the story.

Fired from the FBI amid a string of sexual misconduct allegations that included a co-worker's claim that he raped her at knife point? If only his prior employer had contacted an investigating law enforcement agency to verify these claims and prosecuted him, that 11 yr. old girl wouldn't had become a victim of this POS. Do you think the FBI might have been concerned with how this would make them look if it were known that they had allowed a rapist to slip through their hiring evaluation process? This needs investigated. I mean WTF!!

[stillcool]

7. They knew. It's why he was fired...

Bauer is the latest — and perhaps most extreme — example yet of an FBI agent accused of sexual misconduct moving on. An AP investigation last year found a pattern of FBI supervisors avoiding discipline — and retiring with full benefits — even after claims of sexual misconduct against them were substantiated.

=====================================
FBI brass considered the misconduct case to be “egregious,” according to a former senior law enforcement official with direct knowledge of the matter. Internal investigators interviewed several female FBI employees about their dealings with Bauer and believed the truth to be “somewhere in the middle” of what Bauer and the co-worker claimed, the former official said. The internal inquiry found Bauer violated FBI policy, including by having sex in an FBI vehicle.

“He flat-out needed to lose his job, and he really should have been charged criminally,” said the former official, who wasn’t authorized to discuss personnel matters and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Bauer’s co-worker told AP that Louisiana authorities had been pursuing criminal charges in St. Tammany Parish, north of New Orleans, but she didn’t believe she had enough evidence to go forward.

[luckyexpat]

9. I realize that's the reason for his firing

My point is that the Federal Bureau of INVESTIGATION deems it more expedient and less embarrassing to fire or allow to retire agents and supervisors than to recognize a pattern of predatory sexual behavior, including the allegation of a rape at knife point of a co-worker, and then determines that the truth is "somewhere in the middle". Was the co-worker raped at knife-point or not? "Somewhere in the middle" is sweeping it under the carpet and hoping it goes away.

[Mr. Evil]

6. What a creepy piece of shit.

Sort of looks like Josh Duggar too. That's even creepier.

Maybe they can accidentally on purpose lose the paper work stating that he was a LEO and put him in gen pop.

[kairos12]

8. His fake letter was probably printed on the back of a Waffle House menu.

Good to go!

[Midnight Writer]

10. He raped an FBI agent at knifepoint and was not charged with a crime?

Sounds like a bigger problem than just the Alabama State Police hiring practices.

[rpannier]

11. Next time you're looking for a place to avoid...

Alabama should be near the top of the list

New State Motto: Alabama. We make Yemen seem good

[uberblonde]

12. This is the kind of hire the George Floyd policing bill would prevent.

It would have established a national registry open to the public for anyone who worked in law enforcement.

We really need it.