When Elizabeth Restrepo, a convenience store clerk in South Carthage, was approached by Officer Frank Geisenhoffer who grabbed her and demanded she make him a video of her breasts, she had no idea where she could go to report it.
"Who was I gonna to call when he asked for a video — the police?" Restrepo asked. "He was the one who asked for it."
For months, Geisenhoffer, the town pervert who happens to carry a badge and a gun, had been harassing Restrepo where she worked. It eventually became so overwhelming after he showed her a video of himself masturbating that Restrepo began secretly recording him to get proof so she could turn him in.
These recordings would be considered lewd if they were an average citizen off the street. However, when they come from a person who has the legal authority to kidnap, cage, and kill you, they are outright chilling.
Before Restrepo recorded Geisenhoffer, it was simply her word against a cop.
On the recording, Geisenhoffer grabs Restrepo's hair and says quietly, "Make a picture... just barely covering your nipples... barely, but with your hands on your hips."
That was sexual assault.
I remember as a child, cops were viewed as public servents as people didn't fear encounters with them. I know there are good cops as well as bad ones. But there is a code that requires all cops to support any act by a cop. Even if it's an evil act. This needs to change.