Cop ‘showed off explicit photos’ of student days before she was ‘murdered’ by ex who blackmailed her over the images
A COP is alleged to have showed off explicit pictures of a college student who was being blackmailed by her sex-offender ex before he killed her, according to reports.
Lauren McCluskey, a 21-year-old student at the University of Utah, told campus police she was being blackmailed over the photos by 37-year-old Melvin Rowland - only to be exploited by the officer she turned to for help.
According to The Salt Lake Tribune, Miguel Deras saved the personal photos Lauren shared with him in 2018, along with messages from Rowland threatening to release them unless she paid him $1,000.
The girl's parents, Jill and Matt McCluskey, are currently upholding a $56 million lawsuit against the university, claiming campus cops didn't properly act after she alerted them to the harassment more than 20 times.
Cops failed to recognize signs of domestic abuse which could have prevented her death, an independent report found.
Lauren briefly dated Roland, a 37-year-old sex offender on parole, but broke things off after discovering he lied about his name, age and criminal history.
But the crook convinced the young girl he had access to her personal files and blackmailed her.
He then fatally shot her in her car, before later turning the gun on himself.
A new report suggest as well as mishandling the case, Deras also exploited Lauren.
After saving the photos to his personal phone he reportedly showed them off to a colleague, scrolling through the pictures and bragging he could see them whenever he liked.
However, the university insists that there isn't enough evidence to prove Deras saved the photos.
They also said they're not responsible for the girl's death as Rowland wasn't a student and there is nothing they could have done.
University President Ruth Watkins said there's no reason to believe Rowland could've been stopped.
Efforts were made to retrieve evidence from Deras's phone but they were unsuccessful.
It's reported he got a new phone after the incident, which could explain why authorities' search attempts were unsuccessful.
LATEST NEWS
Deras now works as an officer at another institution.
Major Scott Stephenson, who oversees police training in the state under the Utah Department of Public Safety, said the "alarming" discovery could be grounds for action against Deras' police qualification.
The university also say they have launched efforts to investigate campus complaints more thoroughly following Lauren's death, as well as investigate ex-cons coming onto campus.