Phillip M. Bailey

@phillipmbailey

Louisville Metro Police Chief Steve Conrad fired Officer Brandon Wood on Thursday afternoon, a day after the eight-year veteran was indicted on sexual abuse charges related to a scandal in the department's Youth Explorer program.

A post to the department’s Facebook page said Conrad met with Wood and decided to terminate his employment with the force, “effective immediately."

Attorney Steve Schroering, who is representing Wood, said his client will fight the chief’s decision before the five-member police merit board. Wood has 10 business days to file an appeal, but the panel could delay that hearing until after the criminal trial.

The chief's decision comes after a Jefferson County grand jury indicted Wood on seven counts of sexual abuse, each punishable by up to five years in prison. The grand jury also indicted former Officer Kenneth Betts, who resigned in 2014, on two counts of sodomy, one of which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years.

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Wood, a former adviser in the Explorer program, had been limited to desk duty since the department's Public Integrity Unit launched an investigation into his conduct last October. He is accused of engaging in sexual contact with an individual identified only as N.C. when he was less than 18 years of age and while Wood was in a position of authority or special trust.

The Explorer program, which police run in partnership with the Boy Scouts of America, is for youths ages 14-19 interested in careers as police officers. In Kentucky, the age of consent is normally 16, but it rises to 18 when the adult is in a position of trust.

In a separate civil lawsuit, a former Explorer Scout also identified as N.C. alleges that Wood and Betts sexually assaulted him at their homes and in police vehicles and filmed the incidents to make pornography. Mayor Greg Fischer suspended the Explorer program last month after the Courier-Journal reported the suit's details. The mayor has described the scandal as the city's "worst nightmare."

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Schroering said his client maintains his innocence and will enter a not guilty plea, but the lawyer declined to provide any additional comment when asked about the tenor of the meeting with the chief.

Wood had worked as a patrol officer in the department's Third Division, which covers much of the South End, including the Fairdale, Pleasure Ridge Park and Valley Station neighborhoods. He has earned about $16,550 this year while on desk duty, according to the city's salary database.

Wood and Betts are scheduled to be arraigned April 17, Wood by Jefferson Circuit Judge Ann Bailey Smith and Betts by the judge assigned that day in Division 2, from which Judge James Shake recently retired.

Reporter Phillip M. Bailey can be reached at 502-582-4475 or pbailey@courier-journal.com. Reporter Andrew Wolfson contributed to this story.

Read more

►Fischer suspends police youth program amid scandal

►Conrad ended earlier investigation into cop accused of sex abuse

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