Allegations that 'intimate' photos of LAPD employee being shared on internet under investigation

Noah Goldberg, Libor Jany
·2 min read
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LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 01: Los Angeles Police Headquarters located at First and Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles July 1, 2020 as Los Angeles City Council voted to cut hiring at the LAPD, pushing the number of sworn officers well below 10,000 and abandoning a budget priority once seen as untouchable by city leaders. LAPD Headquarters on Wednesday, July 1, 2020 in Los Angeles, CA. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
Los Angeles Police Headquarters located at First and Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles on July 1, 2020. The department is investigating allegations that intimate photos of an LAPD employee have been shared on the internet. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating a claim that "intimate" photos of a department employee were being shared on the internet, possibly by a former LAPD employee.

The department confirmed Friday that an internal affairs investigation into the allegations has been launched and that the department is cooperating with an outside criminal probe into the matter.

"The Los Angeles Police Department does not tolerate sexual harassment of any kind and will take every action possible to protect our employee and hold accountable any individual responsible," LAPD Chief Michel Moore said in a statement. "Should the investigation reveal a Department employee participated in this serious misconduct, the employee will be subject to discipline including the possibility of removal and a criminal prosecution."

The news was first reported by the NBC4 I-Team. The department did not release any further details on the allegations.

The incident comes on the heels of three other troubling nude-photo scandals in the LAPD that have come to light in recent years.

Read more: Editorial: With Chief Moore on the way out, Mayor Bass should remake LAPD

Officer Brady Lamas was charged in December by the Los Angeles County district attorney with six counts of disorderly conduct for sending naked photos of his wife, who was also an officer, to other LAPD colleagues along with other men, according to a criminal complaint.

The LAPD said Lamas was on home assignment since January 2023, when the investigation began.

“My own husband is a predator and he preyed on me,” his wife wrote in court papers. “I would have preferred that he punched me in the face.”

In September, LAPD Capt. Lillian Carranza was awarded $4 million in damages over a nude photo that was doctored to look like it was taken of her and then was shared around the department.

In 2020, LAPD Det. Ysabel Villegas settled for $1.5 million with the city over claims that another officer assaulted her and blackmailed her, threatening to share explicit images of her if she ended their relationship.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.