Free Thought Project – by Matt Agorist
Lousiville, KY – A serial rapist police officer, who admitted to using his badge and cruiser to prey on innocent women — by raping them while on duty — was handed down an insultingly low sentence this week. After pleading guilty to five counts of sexual misconduct against multiple victims, and possession of child porn former Louisville Metro Police officer Pablo Cano, received just five years behind bars.
According to the Courier Journal, attorney Shannon Fauver, who represents the women in civil suits against Cano and the department, said they would have liked him to serve more prison time but were thankful for some resolution.
“It’s better he pleaded guilty to something and he’s no longer able to be a police officer and he’s serving,” said Fauver. “At least the women had some vindication that he’s admitted to doing something to them without their consent, which is important,” she said.
As part of his plea deal, Cano will have to register as a sex offender and would need to complete a sex offender program in prison to be considered for parole, said Jeff Cooke, a spokesman for the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office, according to the Journal.
After completing this sex offender program, it’s possible, indeed likely, that this serial rapist will only serve a small fraction of the five year sentence.
As TFTP reported at the time, the first complaint was made public in 2017 when it was revealed that a woman filed a report claiming she had been raped by Cano, twice.
The woman claimed she first met Cano at a city park, and then he showed up at her house weeks later and raped her. After the rape, he came back the next day and did it again. He was allegedly in uniform the first time, and then in plain clothes the next day when he came to rape her again, but had a gun at the time of the crime.
She filed a lawsuit against Cano and the Police Department. Her lawyer, Shannon Fauver, also represents a second woman, who came forward days after the first victim accusing the highly decorated officer of raping and sexually molesting her in December 2016. The LMPD responded by placing Cano on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
A third woman came forward days after that and said she, too, was raped by Cano. She is not being represented by Fauver, who said she’s not at all surprised, and suggested Cano is a serial rapist. “I will say that I’m not surprised. When someone is a rapist, there will be more victims,” Fauver said.
Just before the officer was charged, a fourth woman came forward. Louisville Councilman David James said he was shocked by the scandal. “I was actually in shock,” James admitted. “It’s another black eye for the police officers.”
Cano would resign four months later in September 2017.
Adding to the disgusting nature of Cano’s crimes is the fact that the former cop also pleaded guilty to possessing child porn. As the Journal reports:
In court Monday, Cano also pleaded guilty to a single felony count of possession of matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor.
The child pornography was discovered as investigators examined electronic evidence in the sexual misconduct case, Fauver said.
How a cop who admits to raping multiple woman, while on duty, and is caught with child porn, manages to get just a 5-year sentence is anyone’s guess—especially considering the case of Daniel Holtzclaw who was found guilty of similar crimes but was sentenced to more than two centuries behind bars. While Holtzclaw is the exception, Cano appears to be the rule.
In August, it was announced that the two NYPD officers who admitted to kidnapping a teen and were found to have raped her will not be going to jail and will not be registering as sex offenders.
Also as TFTP reported last year, Rafael Martinez Jr., a now-former Camden County cop was found guilty of having sexual relations with and impregnating a child. This was confirmed with DNA evidence and the officer himself admitted it. However, he will not spend a single day in jail.
Before that, former deputy Robert Retford, with the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department was arrested in Noveber of 2016 on charges of sexual assault. His alleged victim was apparently seeking help from the deputy when she said he beat her, raped her and defecated on her, and made her drink his urine. In May of 2017, Retford pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the woman and would not spend a single day in jail.
maybe we should show them some “viral Backlash”????