A guilty plea was entered by Patrick Heron, a retired Philadelphia police officer, on October 20th. As a result, he received a 15 to 40-year prison sentence. This 54-year-old individual had been confronted with over 200 criminal charges related to the sexual abuse of women and children, potentially carrying a cumulative sentence of nearly 1,500 years.
District Attorney Larry Krasner, in an official statement, indicated that Heron made the decision to admit guilt in five distinct cases being pursued by the DA’s Special Investigations Unit. In this plea, Heron acknowledged his guilt on two charges of child sexual abuse, two counts of improper contact with an adult, official oppression, minor kidnapping, forgery, harassment, and indecent assault.
As per accounts, Commonwealth prosecutors had been diligently handling the cases involving Heron for more than ten years. The accusations centered on the retired police officer’s alleged assaults and mistreatment of numerous girls and women.
Additionally, he was accused of capturing videos and images during some of these assaults. Heron faced allegations of attempting to intimidate witnesses in an effort to protect his actions from scrutiny by other members of the police force.
The District Attorney’s office, in collaboration with its Special Investigation Unit and certain detectives, carried out an inquiry that entailed the confiscation of videos and digital images from various accounts linked to Heron. Some of this material depicted Heron involved in harmful actions with girls and women while in the back seat of his patrol car, armed and in full uniform.
Krasner further stated that one of the videos submitted as evidence in the Court of Common Pleas depicted Heron actively supporting a woman as she administered drugs into her arm in the rear of his patrol car. The footage revealed that he subjected her to mistreatment once she ceased using drugs.
The retired police officer had been detained in connection with analogous charges of assaulting a child since June. Further allegations linked to a wide range of offenses were brought against Heron, spanning from 2005 to 2019.
