ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- A former Lincoln County sheriff's detective sexually abused or injured five female drug court participants that he was supposed to be monitoring, federal prosecutors said Thursday.
Scott Edwards, 49, of Troy, Mo., was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury on five civil rights-related charges: two felony counts of deprivation of rights under color of law including aggravated sexual abuse, one felony count of deprivation of rights under color of law including kidnapping and two misdemeanor counts of deprivation of rights under color of law including sexual contact.
"The allegations represent the worst sort of abuse of public trust one could imagine," said U.S. Attorney Richard Callahan.
Edwards was a part-time tracker for the drug court program during the period when the alleged crimes occurred, February 2009 through November 2010, and had sexual contact with three of the victims and "engaged in acts that resulted in bodily injury and included aggravated sexual abuse" with two others, prosecutors said.
He also allegedly "restrained and confined one of the female victims by force, intimidation, and deception."
Asked if Edwards was alleged to have extorted or blackmailed the women into providing sex, Callahan responded, "That would be fair."
He also pointed out that the alleged victims were vulnerable, as they were trying to work their way through the drug court process.
"Their notion of self-empowerment is not going to be as strong," Callahan said.
Edwards could not be immediately reached for comment. His lawyer, John Lynch, said that Edwards now lives out of state and works in "private industry." Lynch said that Edwards planned to turn himself in and face the charges.
Asked to comment on the allegations, Lynch said, "The only thing ... that I'm willing to say at this point is that he looks forward to defending himself in court."
David Ferman, a defense attorney who represented all five victims in drug court, said his clients told him about Edwards roughly a year ago. Ferman said he then contacted the FBI. Ferman said Edwards used drug court money to pay to have some of the women stay in hotels so that he would have easier access to them.
"He took them away from their families and children," Ferman said. "He had it down to a science."
Ferman said that according to his clients, Edwards threatened them with jail time if they didn't have sex with him. When the women complained, drug court team members treated them with indifference and disbelief, Ferman said.
"I think they (drug court officers) were responsible for the ease with which he victimized these women," Ferman said.
Reached by phone Thursday evening, Drug Court Commissioner James Sullivan said, "The 45th Judicial Circuit and the drug court team in Lincoln and Pike counties have and will continue to cooperate with law enforcement and prosecuting officials. Because this is an ongoing criminal prosecution, any further comment would be inappropriate at this time."
Lincoln County sheriff's Maj. Kurt Venneman stressed that when the alleged crimes occurred, Edwards was not working under the authority of the Sheriff's Office and was hired privately by the drug court in a pilot program. Edwards' job was to check up on clients to make sure that they weren't using drugs or hanging around people they weren't supposed to be around.
Venneman said that Edwards resigned from both jobs roughly a year ago when the allegations surfaced. He also said that there were never any allegations before that time. The Troy Police Department did the initial investigation then turned it over to the FBI when it became clear that the allegations could become criminal, Venneman said.
Stephen Deere of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
Copyright 2011 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
