© WOIOCharles Locke
Charles Locke pleaded guilty last month to five counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor, two counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, and one count of possessing criminal tools.
A judge sentenced him to 19 ½ years in prison Wednesday, citing the psychological damage he inflicted on the girl and the former officer's abuse of the public trust.
The 42-year-old Locke was fired after he admitted to the charges. The internal affairs investigator who handled the case called Locke an embarrassment and cancer to the Cleveland Police Department.
"Charles Locke is a monster," said internal affairs officer Carl Hartman.
Locke told the judge he was exhausted from overwork when the encounters took place, saying he worked 90 hours a week and slept as little as three hours a night.
"This is not who I am," Locke said. "I was out of my mind." Locke had no previous disciplinary record since becoming a police officer in 2007.
The girl wrote a letter saying she had trusted Locke and has struggled with depression and her schoolwork since the encounters.
"I trusted him a lot," the teen wrote in a letter to the court. "My mood now changes too much. I'm depressed. I'm sad, mad, and sometimes happy."
She met the officer when he worked as a security guard at the recreation center where she played basketball.
Her parents became suspicious of their relationship and heard rumors that Locke had engaged in inappropriate relationships with other girls.
If you can't come up with that, at least have a bad one.