Oviedo cop resigns over Web sex pics

Oviedo cop resigns over Web sex pics
Walter Pacheco Sentinel Staff Writer
August 8, 2008
An Oviedo police officer resigned Thursday after dozens of pictures surfaced on the Internet showing him performing sexual acts and soliciting sex with married couples, as well as single men and women. Officer Scott Woodlee, a 12-year veteran of the Oviedo Police Department, told investigators he "did it for entertainment" and that was an "error in judgment."Officials at the Police Department said the pictures did not show the 49-year-old officer's face or tie him to the department, but a tattoo on his body helped detectives identify him. A tip to police Chief Jeffrey Chudnow led detectives to launch an internal-affairs investigation in July.



Investigators downloaded 19 photographs from Craigslist -- an online classifieds Web site -- that showed Woodlee engaged in "lewd and revealing photographs," the investigators wrote in their report. The officer had posted the images between May 1 and June 7 on the adult "casual encounters" section of the site. Anyone could have looked at the pictures because there is nothing to prevent users younger than 18 from viewing them.



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I've been avoiding posting this story because I know Scott. He's a good guy and had worked for the police department in some of the worst areas and dangerous assignments for years. I know his wife and kids. What caused me to post this now is this report. Scott quit the force because of this. A good cop had to give up a job he loved because he pulled a stupid stunt.


This is from August 6th

Oviedo Cop Accused Of Soliciting For Sex Online
POSTED: 5:33 pm EDT August 6, 2008
OVIEDO, Fla. -- An undercover Oviedo cop is accused of soliciting men and woman for sex on the web site craigslist.

Investigators say Scott Woodly posted ads and nude pictures of himself with lines such as "Veteran looking to spoil patriotic women this Memorial Day" and "I am looking for a muscular man."

The Oviedo Police Department started to investigate Woodley after the police chief received a tip. Even though the pictures on craigslist only showed body parts, officials were able to identify Woodley through his tattoos. Woodley told investigators he did not place the ads on company time or use city equipment.

"He felt he made an error in judgment," said Lt. George Ilemsky of the Oviedo Police Department. "(He) did it for entertainment purposes."

Woodley has been with the department for 12 years and works in a drug task force. He has never been in trouble for anything like this in the past.
Woodley's actions are not illegal but he could still lose his job.
http://www.wftv.com/news/17114089/detail.html

Yet the Orlando Police were focused on this a couple of weeks before.

Orlando-area cybercops troll Web for clues, criminals
Amy L. Edwards and Walter Pacheco Sentinel Staff Writers
July 21, 2008
Prostitutes in Orlando solicit sex on Craigslist. Three DeLand teens were arrested after writing on MySpace about a massacre plot at their middle school. And a couple of Merritt Island teenagers posted a mean-spirited prank on YouTube that led prosecutors to file criminal charges against them.Such online posts and videos can generate thousands, even millions, of hits from curious Web surfers looking for friends and entertainment. But they aren't the only ones watching.

Increasingly, law-enforcement officers are relying on the Internet to keep tabs on known criminals or look for clues to aid in their investigations. That's because the Internet has become such an integral part of people's lives that it is a natural environment both to advertise illegal services and for criminals to boast about their exploits."Law enforcement is finding that they have to get involved more and more in policing the Internet. It's not just something they can ignore," said Art Bowker, president of the Roseville, Calif.-based High Technology Crime Investigation Association.

If police "aren't patrolling the Internet, they're going to have to start."

Though local law-enforcement agencies won't talk about how they track crimes using the Internet, it is widely known that they use the tool to find prostitutes and sexual predators and to monitor gang activity. Many escort services have their own Web sites, and police have been tracking gang Web sites for some time, Bowker said."The Internet has become a jurisdiction of its own," said Detective Vickie Callahan of the Polk County Sheriff's Office. "Since the Internet has enabled and enhanced criminals to reach a larger number of victims, it has become necessary for law enforcement to monitor certain activities that target adult and child victims."Beans spilled on social sites Some local law-enforcement agencies have made arrests based on conversations and videos posted on social-networking sites such as MySpace and YouTube.http://www.orlandosentinel.com/community/news/deland/orl-cybercops2108jul21,0,4522277.story

While this is what they should have been focused on instead of an adult doing something really stupid, they focused on Scott. Scott is not gay or bisexual. The part about "looking for a muscular man" shows that this was a joke, a stupid one but still just a joke. Now the media has him looking like he deserved to lose his job over this. The article says that the pictures did not show his face. It showed his tattoos and that was how they figured out who it was. He did it on his own time on his own computer. So how does this have anything to do with his job?

It would be one thing if someone said he attacked them or he was caught looking for under age kids but this was a stupid stunt. Seems to be that if the police force have good cops they should respect that fact and there should have been justice in this case. Scott didn't break the law, he risked his life to enforce it. This is just really, really wrong. I have not talked to Scott about this or his wife but I hold them in my prayers. I think it's wrong to only think of him this way based on a few pictures on the web. I didn't see the pictures either and have no plans of doing it. Scott's whole life shows what kind of person he is, not this. The other thing that bothers me about all of this is why the police department released the information over somethng that was not illegal and did not happen while he was on the job.