CHP chief denounces nude photo trading as 'dehumanizing’

Avery Browne, Golden Gate Division chief of the California Highway Patrol, discusses the alleged theft and sharing of women's cell phone pictures. Avery Browne, Golden Gate Division chief of the California Highway Patrol, discusses the alleged theft and sharing of women's cell phone pictures. Photo: Henry K. Lee Photo: Henry K. Lee Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close CHP chief denounces nude photo trading as 'dehumanizing’ 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

The California Highway Patrol’s top Bay Area official has condemned the actions of officers who allegedly shared revealing photos stolen from women’s cell phones and promises to vigorously investigate the incidents — which may result in charges being filed this week.

At a hastily called news conference late Saturday night, Avery Browne, chief of the CHP’s Golden Gate Division, denounced reports that at least two officers assigned to the CHP’s Dublin office had exchanged crude text messages commenting about the bodies of two women whom one of the officers had encountered while out on patrol.

“The allegations that have been brought forward are disappointing,” Browne said at division headquarters in Vallejo. “They are disgusting, and they have angered my staff, top management, executive management of the California Highway Patrol. The callousness and depravity with which these officers communicated about women is dehumanizing, horribly offensive and degrading to all women.”

Prosecutors are expected to decide this week whether anyone will face criminal charges.

Bikini photos of a 19-year-old woman were allegedly stolen by CHP Officer Sean Harrington, 35, of Martinez as she was undergoing X-rays after being involved in a DUI crash in Livermore in August.

“Taken from the phone of my 10-15x while she’s in X-rays,” Harrington allegedly texted fellow Dublin CHP Officer Robert Hazelwood. In police parlance, “10-15x” refers to a female arrestee. Hazelwood in turn responded, “No f— nudes?” senior inspector Darryl Holcombe wrote in a search warrant affidavit.

Later that month, Harrington secretly forwarded at least five photos of a 23-year-old woman he had arrested for DUI in San Ramon, authorities said.

That woman found out what happened when she looked at her iPad, which is synced to her iPhone, authorities said. She hired lawyer Rick Madsen and notified the district attorney’s office, investigators said.

Madsen said he appreciated Browne’s statements but noted that his client had discovered what happened by chance. “It's a reasonable speculation to imagine how often it has occurred undetected,” Madsen said. “Who knows how many officers have participated in this so-called 'game,’ or how many more women have been victimized?”

Prosecutors opted not to charge the woman in her DUI case because of Harrington’s alleged conduct, court records show. Browne lauded her for coming forward.

Records from Harrington’s cell phone revealed he had traded texts about women’s photos with at least Hazelwood and another officer considered a witness in the case, authorities said.

In an interview with district attorney’s inspectors, Harrington admitted to stealing photos and “described this scheme as a game,” the affidavit says.

Holcombe wrote in the court records that he believed Harrington, Hazelwood and others unlawfully accessed a computer system and stole computer data.

Without identifying any officers by name, Browne said two Dublin CHP officers have been removed from patrol duties and are facing an internal investigation.

Henry K. Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: hlee@sfchronicle.com