Two St. Louis Police officers were charged Wednesday with the rape or sexual assault of four women, and a third officer was charged with tampering with an assault witness involved in the case, numerous sources reported.
Lafeal Lawshea, 38, was charged with raping two women in 2009 and sexually assaulting a civilian police department employee in 2019, according to The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Lawshea allegedly also contacted one of the victims after an investigation was launched and told her the allegations were false. Lawshea has been with the department since 2008.
Torey Phelps, 38, was charged with one count of forcible rape and is accused of intercourse with an incapacitated woman in 2010, according to the Post-Dispatch. (RELATED: Man Posing As Uber Driver Rapes Spring Breaker)
NEW: Mugshots just released by @SLMPD of the officers accused of sexually assaulting women.
Lafeal Lawshea (left) charged with rape, sodomy, sexual misconduct.
Torey Phelps (right) charged with rape. https://t.co/GLb20Q8LaZ pic.twitter.com/CQmVY0gKAI
— Alexis Zotos (@alexiszotos) March 18, 2021
Phelps has been with the department since 2007.
Court documents allege the two men carried out assaults together. The first two assaults allegedly occurred in 2009 at Lawshea’s home, where a woman claims Lawshea drugged her before raping her, court documents said, according to the Post-Dispatch. Another woman alleged that Lawshea bought her two strong drinks at a bar before raping her at his home.
Another woman claimed Lawshea bought her a strong drink at a bar and Phelps raped her at Lawshea’s home. The woman allegedly asked Lawshea during the assault “are you doing to let him do this to me?”
Lawshea was charged with two counts of forcible rape and counts of forcible sodomy, sexual misconduct, and tampering with a victim, accoring to the Post-Dispatch.
An alleged assault at Lawshea’s home in 2009 was also connected to a third officer who was charged with tampering with a witness in the case, according to KSDK. Sgt. Jatonya Clayborn-Muldrow allegedly tried to dissuade one woman from reporting at sexual assault Lawshea committed. Court documents allege she told a female officer who came to her about a sexual assault by another officer that it was a “misunderstanding,” KSDK reported.
Charging documents also claim Clayborn-Harris inquired into who was leading the internal investigation, and assumed the victim was making allegations about Lawshea. Lawshea allegedly contacted the victim after learning he was the subject of an investigation. Clayborn-Harris has been with the department since 1998.
“After learning that he was the subject of an investigation, [Lawshea] contacted [the victim] by phone, to ask, ‘are we cool?’ and telling her that he did not sexually assault her,” court documents said, according to KSDK.
St. Louis Police Chief John Hayden released a statement Wednesday affirming the department would investigate the allegations “thoroughly and impartially,” according to the Post-Dispatch.
“Most notably, this situation should recognize the courage of several victims to come forward and share their story with my Internal Affairs Division, who they trusted to be confidential and complete. My pledge to accountability and transparency has not wavered and I hope our citizens recognize that we will make every effort to continue to work to gain their trust.”