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CINCINNATI— A Cincinnati police officer was arrested Monday on allegations of receiving nude photographs of a 17-year-old girl taking part in a department program for teens interested in becoming police officers, authorities said.
Officer Darrell Beavers was also charged with improperly using a city apartment and tampering with evidence after the teen’s father complained about him last month.Beavers was released on his own recognizance. Attorney Carl Lewis said Beavers maintains his innocence and will plead not guilty but declined to comment further.

The teen was a member of the department’s Police Explorer program, which police Sgt. Julian Johnson said Beavers was not involved in. Johnson did not know whether the teen remained in the program. The girl’s father reached out to the police after learning of her contact with Beavers, according to the Cincinnati Inquirer.

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Beavers was put on unpaid leave following his arrest and would be fired if convicted, Johnson said. Prosecutors said he could face up to eight and a half years in prison.

In addition to the accusations involving the photos, Beavers is accused of using an apartment for free after saying it would be used as a police substation and destroying a cellphone after learning he was being investigated.

A resident of the apartment, who asked that her last name not be used, told WCPO 9 that when she heard a substation would set in the complex, she thought it was a good idea.

“When I first heard that there was going to be a substation in our complex, I thought it was a really nice idea,” she said, “It’s off the beaten path…security would really really be nice.”

But as time went by, Kathy said something didn’t seem normal.

“Only because they were never there, it seemed like if there was going to be some police presence in the neighborhood at least they would be there on occasion,” Kathy said. “An hour here and an hour there — but it really didn’t appear that way to me.”

Prosecutors say the accusations stem from conduct between June and September.

Watch Officer Beavers talk about getting kids interested in law enforcement:

Ex-NFL Player Turned Cop Cuffed For Sexing With Minor, Operating Fake Police Station  was originally published on newsone.com