A former Yukon police officer who was accused publicly this week of sexually abusing a teenage boy in the mid-1980s to ‘90s has resigned from the Canadian County Sheriff’s Office after an investigation was launched.
The sheriff’s major resigned Thursday afternoon, Sheriff Chris West confirmed, who said it is not public record because it was an administrative investigation.
“It was a shocker, and I hate it for everyone involved,” West said. “What (the alleged victim’s family) put on social media, they came and told us.
“Based on the timeline they gave us, it all happened when he worked at Yukon PD.”
A local woman, Gabrielle Welch, shared the story about the alleged abuse committed against her father who recently died, according to KWTV-News 9. The station did not report the former officer’s name because no charges will be filed against him.
The man, named Buddy, had reportedly kept the allegations a secret because he was too ashamed to come forward. He gave his daughter Gabrielle permission to report the alleged assaults after he passed away.
Gabrielle Welch posted the allegations on Facebook and named the officer.
When her father was a teen, she claimed he and another teen had stolen a motorcycle and were caught by a Yukon police officer.
She said the officer secretly recorded the teen’s confession to the crime and then used it against him. The officer allegedly told the boy he would not let police know about the recorded confession if he would be available for sexual favors. The reported abuse allegedly went on for a decade.
Her claims on Facebook prompted the Canadian County Sheriff’s Office to open the investigation into the allegations.
“We cut our teeth on child predators over here,” Sheriff West said. “Just based on the seriousness of the allegations, I felt that I had to look into it. So I started an investigation, put him on paid leave and he resigned.
“I can’t prove anything, and the DA is not filing any charges. I just wanted to look into it because of the seriousness of the allegation.”
Investigators learned the Canadian County District Attorney’s Office would not formally charge the former Yukon officer.
“Based on that timeline and (because) the guy’s deceased that they’re saying it all happened to, it was outside the statute of limitations,” Sheriff West said.
West would not discuss any specifics about the investigation.
