Police have opened an internal investigation into an officer accused of showing a coworker private photos connected to the case of Lauren McCluskey, a University of Utah student who was killed in October 2018, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.
Lauren, 21, had reported to campus police that she was being blackmailed over private photos and had paid $1,000 to the person demanding money. She gave officers copies of the messages and images as evidence. The extortion was later tied to her former boyfriend.
According to the Tribune, an officer assigned to her case saved the photos to his personal phone and, days before she was killed, showed them to a male coworker. Two other officers reportedly told investigators they knew about it, and one said the officer bragged that he could look at the images whenever he wanted. The report says neither coworker reported what they saw and the officer was never disciplined.
University police say they did not learn of the allegation until the Tribune made a records request, after the officer had already left the department in September 2019. Lt. Jason Hinojosa said the department had no idea the incident occurred while the officer was still there. The officer did not respond to a request for comment.
Lauren was shot and killed in her car on October 22, 2018, by her 37 year old former boyfriend, who then took his own life. Her parents have filed a lawsuit over how the university handled her reports.
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