NEWS RELEASE
ARLINGTON COUNTY
POLICE DEPARTMENT
Public Information Office
1425 N. Courthouse Road
Arlington, VA 22201
(703) 228-4050

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December 2, 2005 Contact: Matt Martin, 703-228-4311
 


Arlington police officer arrested for soliciting minor on the Web
Investigation began as part of regional Internet Crimes Against Children task force

ARLINGTON, VA – Detectives with the Alexandria Police Department today arrested an Arlington County police officer for soliciting a minor via the Web. Patrick Sherman, 26, was taken into custody without incident at his residence in the 1100 block of S. Thomas St. in Arlington. A search warrant was also executed at his home.

Sherman has been charged with one count of using a communications system to facilitate certain offenses involving children, a class 5 felony that carries a maximum penalty of one to ten years in prison or one year in jail and/or a fine of up to $2,500. He has been released on a $1,500 unsecured bond.

The investigation into Sherman’s online activities began when he came to the attention of investigators working with the Northern Virginia-D.C. Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force in early November. Sherman made contact with an Alexandria detective working on the task force who was using the fictitious online profile of a pre-adolescent teen. During this contact, Sherman engaged in conversations of a sexual nature that resulted in the criminal charge against him.

Sherman graduated from the Northern Virginia Criminal Justice Training Academy in June. Since then, he has been under the direct supervision of a Police Training Officer. Sherman has been relieved of duty and is suspended without pay pending an internal investigation. The Arlington County Police Department is part of the ICAC task force, and was involved in the investigation from the onset. There is no evidence that any of Sherman’s illegal online behavior occurred while he was on duty.

ICAC is a federally funded task force made up of specially trained investigators from several Northern Virginia, D.C. and federal law enforcement agencies. During October and November, ICAC investigators carried out an online sting operation during which they assumed the profiles of pre-adolescent teenagers and visited common teen chatrooms. Online predators would then attempt to solicit sex from these “teens.” During this operation, 36 cases were opened and 10 people were arrested.