COLUMBUS, Ohio — Documents provided by Columbus police Thursday detail the departmental charges against a commander and four other people associated with the now-defunct vice unit.
The five members of the division could face discipline up to and including firing as a result of the charges, which were announced Wednesday.
Commander Terry Moore, Lt. Ron Kemmerling, Sgt. Scott Soha and officers Steven Rosser and Whitney Lancaster are facing departmental charges in relation to the arrest of adult film star Stephanie Clifford, more commonly known as Stormy Daniels, in July 2018.
According to the charging documents, Moore, a 29-year veteran, is accused of giving approval of the operation at Sirens Gentlemen’s Club on July 11, 2018, which resulted in the arrest of Clifford, who was performing at the club that night, and two local employees of the club.
The documents indicate that Moore did not properly supervise the officers under his command.
Kemmerling, a 23-year veteran, faces similar charges.
An additional charge is related to the $760 spent by the four officers who were undercover inside Sirens that night. Those officers — Lancaster, Rosser, former vice officer Shana Keckley and officer Mary Praither, who was invited by vice personnel — spent the money on lap dances, alcohol and other expenditures at the club.
Kemmerling is also accused of having “endorsed and then abdicated” the operation resulting in Clifford’s arrest, as well as having “failed to make or direct a tactical or operational plan” for the operation.
The documents associated with the charges for Kemmerling, Lancaster and Rosser all indicate the operation at Sirens “deviated significantly” from investigations Lancaster and Rosser had done at other strip clubs in the past.
“In the other strip club investigations, all charges were filed at a later time, or the offender was released on summons,” interim Police Chief Thomas Quinlan wrote. “Not a single suspect, except Ms. Clifford, was ever arrested ‘on view’ and taken to the Franklin County Jail.”
Soha, a 17-year veteran, is departmentally charged with failing to ensure his officers were following proper investigative protocols in the arrest of Clifford and failed to properly supervise Rosser.
Lancaster, a 31-year veteran, is accused of making an improper arrest of Clifford, failing to document what he told investigators into the arrest were previous surveillance operations at Sirens in September 2017 and June 2018, failing to follow investigative protocol and failing to submit accurate time cards.
He is also accused of failing to take action to stop a potential drug transaction Lancaster said he witnessed while inside Sirens on July 11, 2018.
“You witnessed a restroom attendant provide what you believed to be cocaine to the manager of Sirens,” Quinlan wrote in the documents. “You did not take any enforcement action … despite the fact that one of your stated goals of the investigation was to investigation violations of law involving drugs.”
Lancaster has been on paid suspension since December 2018 as a result of an ongoing FBI Public Corruption Task Force investigation.
Rosser, who is also on paid suspension because of the FBI investigation, is charged departmentally with the improper arrest of Clifford, multiple time card violations, failing to properly document investigative material and failing to follow proper investigation protocols.
In addition, Rosser is accused of lying to internal affairs investigators about the purpose of going to Sirens. The documents allege Rosser was looking for a specific dancer in relation to a possible human trafficking investigation.
“No search was conducted … for ‘Pearl’ and no other Vice Section personnel interviewed … made any statement in reference to looking for a specific human trafficking victim named ‘Pearl.’“
Following Clifford’s arrest and the fatal shooting of a woman by an undercover vice officer the next month, activities of the vice unit were suspended in September 2018.