Retired Philadelphia police officer accused of indecent assault of minors, intimidating witnesses
PHILADELPHIA - A retired Philadelphia police officer has been charged with indecent assault of minors and investigators are urging any other potential victims to come forward.
Patrick Heron, 52, is in custody and being held on $2 million bail for a number of charges District Attorney Larry Krasner says relate to unlawful sexual contact with young girls.
Heron is also accused witness retaliation, harassment, and stalking of both adults and juveniles related to alleged cover-up efforts.
"The alleged crimes for which this individual is charged are honestly some of the worst I’ve ever seen against an ex-law enforcement official," Krasner said during a Friday morning press conference.
Patrick Heron, 52 (Philadelphia Police Department)
Heron is charged with unlawful contact with minors involving sexual offenses, computer sex acts with children, indecent assault of a person less than 13, and related offenses.
"The conduct alleged includes unlawful sexual contact with minors - some of them quite young – electronic messages that appear to be efforts at grooming young girls or coercion of young girls to meet with this defendant in person, to send him intimate photographs. They include misrepresentations by Heron of himself as a current police officer when he was in fact retired," Krasner added.
The DA referred to the allegations of witness intimidation and harassment as "among the most egregious" his office has seen. Due to those allegations, Krasner says his office has declined to release further details about a Philadelphia public school that was involved in the case for that reason.
Krasner added Friday that investigators have reason to believe there may be more victims in this case. Victims and witnesses who may have more information about the case are urged to contact the District Attorney’s Office Special Investigations Unit.