Ex-Philadelphia Police Officer Pleads Guilty to Sexually Assaulting Women, Children

A door on a police truck in Philadelphia on July 2, 2023. Beth Brelje/Epoch Times

A former Philadelphia police officer pleaded guilty on Oct. 20 to multiple criminal charges of sexual abuse of children and women as part of a plea deal with prosecutors, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office announced.

Patrick Heron, 54, was facing 218 criminal charges relating to allegations that, over the course of a decade, he allegedly abused and assaulted dozens of women and girls, took photographs and videos of them being assaulted without their consent, and attempted to intimidate them into remaining silent about the alleged abuse.

If the former officer—who was being held on $2 million bail—were convicted of the criminal charges filed against him, he would have faced more than 1,300 years in prison.

Instead, Mr. Heron on Friday accepted a plea deal of between 15 and 40 years behind bars.

In return, he pleaded guilty to two counts of unlawful contact with a minor, two counts of sexual abuse of children, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, official oppression, kidnapping of a minor, indecent assault, forgery, and stalking for five criminal cases brought against him by the district attorney’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU).

According to the district attorney’s office, law enforcement officials seized a “mass of digital images and video from accounts” linked to Mr. Heron, many of which showed him “engaging in abusive and assaultive conduct with women and girls in the backseat of his patrol vehicle,” while he was still dressed in police uniform and armed with a service weapon.

Heron Retires From Police Force

Many of the alleged incidents took place while he was on duty, officials said.

In one such incident, of which video footage was obtained by investigators, Mr. Heron could be seen “encouraging a woman as she was using intravenous drugs in the back of his patrol vehicle, before sexually assaulting her.”

Mr. Heron retired from the Philadelphia Police Department in 2019.

Previously, he had worked on the police force from 1995 to 2008 and then from 2010 to 2019, according to The Daily News.

The former officer was initially arrested in September 2022 following a months-long investigation by detectives and prosecutors, who alleged he had conducted a “slew of offenses” related to unlawful sexual contact with young girls, photography depicting sex acts with young girls, and retaliation and harassment against victims and witnesses.

Sentencing Avoids ‘Retraumatization of Victims’

However, the investigation later brought to light the dozens of images and video footage.

“While the Commonwealth was fully prepared to take Patrick Heron to trial for what we know to be his yearslong predation of vulnerable women and girls while he wore a badge, we are comfortable with this conviction which avoids a jury trial and the inevitable retraumatization of victims and witnesses,” Special Investigations Unit Supervisor Lyandra Retacco said in a statement announcing Mr. Heron’s guilty plea.

“The survivors who were prepared to testify against Patrick Heron have expressed to us their relief that he is being held accountable and can no longer hurt another girl or woman. I want to say to them and to all of the survivors of Patrick Heron’s depraved crimes that this District Attorney’s Office is here to support survivors. We understand that this conviction is no substitute for the services and healing that you are desperately owed,” Ms. Retacco added.

Mr. Heron’s attorney, Anthony List, told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement that he hoped the plea deal would allow the victims to move on from the trauma and avoid having to testify.

He also noted his client had to “consider the wellbeing of his family” when accepting the plea deal.

“They’ve already been bullied on social media about this for over a year now and a trial would have made rhinos only worse for them,” he said.

Mr. Heron will be required to register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law, according to CBS News.

The law was created in 1996 in response to the rape and murder of 7-year-old Megan Kanka by a known child molester and requires law enforcement authorities to notify the public about registered sex offenders.