Minneapolis cop charged with molesting son's teen girlfriend is relieved of duty without pay

A Minneapolis police officer arrested last week on suspicion of sexually abusing his son's 16-year-old girlfriend over a period of months, in hotel rooms and during ridealongs in his police cruiser, was charged Tuesday.

In a statement, Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo said officer David Campbell had been relieved of duty, without pay. He said that, if true, the allegations levied against Campbell "violate the very values and ethics that the MPD stands for."

Campbell, 59, a longtime patrol officer, had molested the teenage victim, who had been staying with his family while they lived out of hotels in Bloomington, Roseville and Minneapolis, prosecutors said. The case was assigned to a Bloomington police detective last Thursday. The following afternoon, Campbell was arrested as he left the La Quinta Inn on Nicollet Avenue near Interstate 494. Police said that was one of the hotels where he had been staying with his family in recent months.

Prosecutors said that details of the abuse were first relayed to the detective by a school social worker in St. Paul, who had spoken with the victim and her 17-year-old boyfriend, Campbell's son.

Campbell, who is on administrative leave pending the outcome of his court case, is expected to make his initial court appearance on Wednesday. He remains jailed in lieu of $250,000 bail. His most recent assignment with the department wasn't immediately known.

It was unclear how or when the alleged abuse started. But, the victim said in an interview that Campbell had fondled her multiple times, often persisting even when she told him to stop, according to prosecutors. Several of the encounters reportedly happened during ride-alongs while Campbell was on-duty.

The victim told authorities that on one such occasion Campbell warned her not to report him, threatening to shoot her in the head if he got in trouble or had his kids taken away from him.

Another time, Campbell allegedly instructed her to take photos of herself — in lingerie he had bought her from Victoria's Secret — using his cellphone and save the images in a secure phone app.

A search of his vehicle at the time of his arrest, turned up a large fixed-blade knife, a magazine with six .45 caliber rounds, pepper spray and two cellphones, according to a criminal complaint. When asked by investigators for the passwords to the two phones, Campbell provided the unlock code for his work-issued device, but said he didn't remember the code for his personal phone, the complaint said.

The Office of Police Conduct Review has one open case involving allegations against Campbell, its records how. Three other complaints were closed without discipline.

Messages left for the police department and for the union that represents the city's roughly 860 rank-and-file officers weren't immediately returned Tuesday afternoon.

He is the second city cop this year to be charged with sexual assault. In March, Thomas Tichich was jailed on felony charges for allegedly sexually assaulting an unconscious woman

Libor Jany • 612-673-4064 Twitter:@StribJany