- Local
- Community
- Journalism
Support the independent voice of Denver and help keep the future of Westword free.
Denver District Attorney Beth McCann has charged a Lakewood police officer with two counts of sexually assaulting a woman while on duty. Randall Shaun Butler has resigned from the force.
According to a statement from McCann's office, on November 16, Butler allegedly offered to drive a stranded female in his patrol car to a more secure location near her home. "Butler drove the victim to a vacant parking lot near 25th and Sheridan where the alleged sexual assault occurred. Butler then left the victim and drove away in his patrol car."
The victim, who is not named in the statement, reported the assault to the Denver Police Department's seekthenspeak.org, which helps victims of sexual assault report their perpetrator and find resources.
The Lakewood Police Department is now asking the public to call its tip line at 303-763-6800 with any other allegations against Butler. He is scheduled to appear in court today, December 6.
In 2010, a Denver police officer was charged with kidnapping and sexually assaulting a woman while on duty. In November of this year, Valerie Arend was given a quarter-million dollars in the case against Hector Paez, a former Denver police officer who's now in prison for coercing Arend into performing oral sex on him during a stop in 2010.
We'll update this story with more information as it comes.
Keep Westword Free... Since we started Westword, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Denver, and we would like to keep it that way. Offering our readers free access to incisive coverage of local news, food and culture. Producing stories on everything from political scandals to the hottest new bands, with gutsy reporting, stylish writing, and staffers who've won everything from the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi feature-writing award to the Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism. But with local journalism's existence under siege and advertising revenue setbacks having a larger impact, it is important now more than ever for us to rally support behind funding our local journalism. You can help by participating in our "I Support" membership program, allowing us to keep covering Denver with no paywalls.
