NYPD officers (l. to r.) Alex Cruz, Andrew Morales and Richard Kern

Another of New York's finest is in a lot of trouble. NYPD cop Richard Kern, 25, was indicted by a grand jury for allegedly sodomizing tattoo artist Michael Mineo with a baton during a subway station arrest. I wrote on this series of events when it first broke. Mineo, 24, accused Kern of sodomizing him in October while two other officers held him down. This occurred after they caught him smoking marijuana outside the Prospect Park subway station.

Kern, a four-year veteran, was implicated earlier this month by a transit officer who told the grand jury that Kern stuck a 2-foot long NYPD baton between Michael Mineo's buttocks after the suspect was wrestled to the platform.

Kern's lawyer, John Patten, said he would not comment because he had no official notification of an indictment against his client. "I don't know anything," he said. "I've heard no official word of anything, so I'm not going to comment."

Charges presented before the grand jury included assault and aggravated sexual assault, but the exact nature of the jury's decision is unknown. The indictment will be unsealed on Tuesday. Source: NY Daily News

According to media reports, the other officers involved, Noel Jugraj and Kevin Maloney, have maintained their innocence. Of course, what else would they have said? I'm guilty of the accusations being leveled against me?

"My client is a decorated officer who had absolutely nothing to do with this case," said Jugraj's lawyer, Edward Mandery. "I don't think he's going to be charged. I trust the District Attorney's office is investigating this properly."

"Based on what I know about what happened, I'm not surprised and I wouldn't be surprised if he (Kern) were the only officer" indicted, said Paul Martin, the lawyer for Maloney, the transit officer who broke the Blue Wall of silence and told grand jurors he saw Kern use the baton on Mineo. Source: NY Daily News

Really? We'll see what happens. It seems that these cops have not learned from the sodomizing of Abner Louima by former cop Justin Volpe and his posse. The city was sued by Louima and he received the largest payout in NYC history for police brutality. There are too many accusations of police brutality against New York City's finest for it all to be lies. These cops were given a blank check by former Mayor Rudy Giuliani to do as they please. Well, it is high time they were held accountable for their actions. I know there are decent, hard-working and law abiding police in NYC, but there is a rogue element that must be contained or weeded out. If not, we will continue to hear about such instances of police brutality in New York and in other cities across the United States. Though this man was doing the wrong thing and he has a rap sheet, did he really deserve to be sodomized with a baton? I don't think so.

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