A police officer was arrested and charged Thursday, February 2, for continuous sexual abuse of a young child according to the Fort Worth Police Department.
Fort Worth Officer Raymond Lara was arrested and booked into jail.
On November 2, 2022, Fort Worth Police responded to a call regarding a reported sexual assault of a minor.
When officers arrived on the scene, they learned that the suspect was Officer Lara.
The FWPD then immediately began criminal investigations into the allegations. While the criminal and administrative investigation was ongoing, Lara was placed on restricted duty and stripped of all police powers.
After the investigation, FWPD issued a warrant for Lara’s arrest for charges of continuous sexual abuse of a young child. FWPD’s Special Investigations Unit took Lara into custody without incident according to police.
“This case will be filed with the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office,” said Bradley Perez, a spokesman for FWPD speaking to The Dallas Express.
The Fort Worth Police Department also spoke about the former officer’s conduct.
“The Fort Worth Police Department holds its officers to a high standard both on and off duty and does not tolerate criminal misconduct or unethical behavior; therefore, a thorough investigation into the circumstances of these allegations is being conducted.”
Lara has been with the FWPD for three years and was assigned to the Central Patrol Division at the time of the report according to the release.
Many children wait to report or never report child sexual abuse. About 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 13 boys in the United States experience child sexual abuse according to the CDC.
In 2022, Dallas accounted for nearly 700 sex offenses including rape, fondling, sodomy, sexual assault with an object, and incest according to the Dallas Crime Analytics Dashboard.
In the first month of the year, Dallas experienced a 17% increase in sex offenses.
