Former Philadelphia police officer Patrick Heron was sentenced to 15 to 40 years in state prison Friday after entering guilty pleas to a series of heinous crimes involving the sexual assault of women and girls.
Heron conducted these crimes while in uniform and in the back of his police vehicle. The guilty pleas came as part of an agreement reached with prosecutors, preempting a trial that would have encompassed over 200 counts, including charges of child sex assault, child pornography, kidnapping, and related offenses, as reported by The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Jane Roh, a spokesperson for the district attorney’s office, noted that the victims, who have been spared the trauma of a trial, accepted the guilty plea. Defense attorney Anthony List also expressed the hope that the plea would spare the victims from the anguish of having to testify, with the aspiration that everyone involved can move forward from this painful chapter, the outlet added.
A former Philadelphia police officer was sentenced to 15 to 40 years in state prison after he pleaded guilty Friday to sexually assaulting vulnerable women and girls — often in the back of his police vehicle and while in uniform. https://t.co/FD2R6klp00
— The Philadelphia Inquirer (@PhillyInquirer) October 21, 2023
Heron, who retired from the police force in 2019, initially faced accusations last year of impersonating an active officer to lure girls. Subsequent investigations uncovered a trail of photos and videos indicating predatory behavior that spanned several years, victimizing dozens of young women and girls, many of whom were vulnerable, including runaways, those with a history of arrests, or those grappling with addiction. (RELATED: Former Cop Convicted Of Rape After DNA Links Him To Crime)
Lyandra Retacco, chief of the prosecutors’ special investigations unit, revealed that these horrific crimes occurred from 2005 through the year before Heron’s arrest in 2022. During this period, Heron had encountered many of his victims while serving as a police officer, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. To date, investigators have identified 48 victims, although the identities of many remain unknown, suggesting that additional victims are yet to come forward.