DENVER (AP) — An ex-cop fired as a researcher at the U.S. Center for SafeSport for allegedly stealing money seized in a drug bust has been arrested again, this time charged with rape and sex trafficking.
Jason Krasley, a former police officer in Allentown, Pennsylvania, was arrested Friday and charged with rape and involuntary sexual servitude for crimes he allegedly committed while on duty between 2011 and 2015, according to a news release from the district attorney's office.
Krasley left the department in 2021 and went to work for the SafeSport Center, which fired him last year shortly after learning he had been arrested for allegedly stealing $5,500 from a drug bust he helped carry out while on duty.
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The new arrests once again raise questions about how Krasley was able to maneuver through what center officials say is a robust vetting process used to hire people charged with uncovering sensitive information about cases of sexual abuse.
The Denver-based center was founded in 2017 to address cases of sexual abuse in Olympic sports, from the elite level to the grassroots. At the end of last year, the research team consisted of 36 people; it has called on police departments, where some detectives handle similar cases, to fill some of those positions.
“I am shocked that a former staff member has been accused of such heinous acts in his previous role as a police officer,” Ju'Riese Colon, CEO of SafeSport, said in an emailed statement to The Associated Press. “We hold all staff to the highest standard because protecting athletes is our top priority.”
The AP has learned of two cases Krasley handled — one of which was assigned to a different investigator after his arrest on theft charges. In the other, the plaintiff asked if her case could be reopened after the arrest and was told in an email from a SafeSport employee that “those cases are already being reviewed prior to the requests and media attention.”
Colon said the center has ordered an outside audit of the cases Krasley handled.
“We are working with experts in this area to determine what additional measures should be taken in light of the new allegations,” she said.
Krasley faces additional charges of kidnapping, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and intimidation of a witness, in addition to criminal mischief and criminal coercion.
Krasley's attorney, James Burke, told lehighvallleylive.com that Krasley “absolutely denies the allegations.” Burke did not return a voicemail left by AP at his office.
Krasley, 47, is also named in a whistleblower lawsuit filed last year by two Allentown officers who alleged widespread misconduct in the department.
Also arrested and charged with rape and involuntary sexual servitude Friday was a current Allentown officer, Kevin Weaver, who has been placed on administrative leave.
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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
