Patrick Heron

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Service Record

Philadelphia Pennsylvania Police Department

Main article: Philadelphia Pennsylvania Police Department
Rank Officer
Dates of Service 1995 - 2008
2010 - 2019[1]
Salary $77,870 (2019)[2]
Last Known Status Retired[3]

Incident Reports

From 1996 to 2018, 12 citizen complaints were filed against Heron, including five for physical abuse, four for harassment, two for lack of service, and one for department violations. Heron was reprimanded for one of the harassment complaints and suspended for two others. Heron was suspended for the department violations incident.[4]

2005-2022 Sexual Assaults

Patrick Heron booking photo
Patrick Heron

In 2022, Heron impersonated an officer to contact girls.[4][5]

The investigation discovered photo and video evidence of years of prior assaults. Many of the victims were runaways, addicts, or had prior arrests. Investigators found 48 victims, many of whom were assaulted in Heron's police vehicle while he was in uniform.[3]

One video showed Heron encouraging a woman to use heroin. Heron then assaulted the unconscious woman.

Response Timeline

In April 2022, Heron was arrested and charged with lewd harassment and stalking.[4]

In September 2022, Heron was arrested and charged with possession of child pornography and having unlawful contact with a minor.[4]

In June 2023, Heron was arrested and charged with kidnapping of a minor, luring a child into a motor vehicle, photographing and filming sex acts, and indecent assault of a person under age 13.[4]

In September 2023, the charges from the three arrests - over 200 in total - were combined for trial.[4] Heron faced 1,300 years in prison if convicted.[6]

On October 20, 2023, Heron pleaded guilty to unlawful contact, sexual abuse of children, and forgery.[6]

On October 20, 2023, Heron was sentenced to 15 to 40 years in state prison.[3]

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LEO Ratings

Training and Tactics rating: neutral
Protect & Serve rating: bad
Individual Rights rating: neutral
Accountability and Integrity rating: neutral
Off Duty rating: neutral
Ratings Definitions

Public Comments

References

  1. ↑ Sammy Caiola, Former PPD Officer Patrick Heron to face more than 200 charges of sexual crime in 1 trial. Many of his victims were young women, WHYY, 2023-09-19
  2. ↑ Heron Patrick Jr, Police Officer, City of Philadelphia, govSalaries
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Mariane Angela, Former Philadelphia Police Officer Sentenced To 15-40 Years For Sexual Assault While In Uniform, Daily Caller, 2023-10-21
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Sammy Caiola, Former PPD officer charged with sexually abusing minors had history of citizen complaints, WHYY, 2023-09-27
  5. ↑ Robert Moran, Former Philadelphia police officer sentenced to prison after admitting to sex assaults, Philadelphia Inquirier, 2023-10-20
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Joe Holden, Ex-Philadelphia officer Patrick Heron pleads guilty to sex crimes, CBS News Philadelphia, 2023-10-20

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