Cop Under Investigation For Showing Off “Explicit Photos” Of Student Before She Was Killed By Ex-Boyfriend

The Logan Police Department has launched an internal investigation into an officer who showed off “explicit photos” of a female student who was killed by her ex-boyfriend.

Lauren McCluskey, 21, went to an officer at the University of Utah to report that she was being blackmailed over explicit photos she’d taken of herself. McCluskey didn’t know who was bribing her, but the unknown person was forcing her to pay them $1,000 for the images. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, McCluskey did as the perpetrator asked and sent a payment of $1,000. Taking note of it all, the student sent copies of the messages and pictures to the campus police department to use as evidence. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Miguel Deras was one of the officers who was assigned to her case; he saved the photos to his personal phone, and days before McCluskey was killed her ex, Deras showed the photos to a male co-worker. He also reportedly bragged to his colleague that he could look at the photos whenever he wanted, according to two other officers. One officer confirmed he was shown the photos, and another officer said he overheard the officer discuss the student’s images with another cop. Both of the officers failed to report Deras’ actions, and he was never punished.

McCluskey’s murder happened on Oct. 22, 2018, but the department says it didn’t learn about Deras’s behavior until he left in September 2019. IT was the Tribune’s records request that brought the case to  U. police Lt. Jason Hinojosa’s attention. “He was long gone before we had any inkling that that incident with the photo being shown had occurred,” acknowledged Hinojosa.⠀⠀⠀

The mishandling of McCluskey’s case has resulted in the department being sued by the student’s parents. Deras has yet to respond to a request for comment. McCluskey was killed by her 37-year-old ex-boyfriend Melvin Roland. Roland convinced the girl that he had access to her personal files and blackmailed her, according to The U.S. Sun. Eventually, he fatally shot her in her car and then turned the gun on himself.