Charles City, IA – Charles City Police Officer Todd Smith has been under criminal investigation for the past few months and we’re learning more about the situation now.
Floyd County Attorney Normand Klemesrud filed a complaint in Floyd County District Court on Monday alleging that on or about July 14th, 2012, Smith failed to perform his duties as a police officer when he had reason to believe a sexual assault had occurred.
On the morning of July 14th, Smith responded to a report of a forcible rape. The alleged victim stated that the rape had occurred a couple of hours earlier. The victim described injuries she had suffered and also showed Smith the bruises. Smith allegedly expressed doubt that the bruises were recent. The report also stated that Smith told the victim that if there was sex, it was her fault because she had been drinking, Smith also mentioned, according to the report, that because she had showered after the sexual assault, she had washed away all evidence of a sexual assault and also discouraged her from making any further report.
The report says Smith never transported the victim to the hospital. She was later taken by a third person.
Smith was then dispatched to the hospital by the Charles City Police Department where he made a number of statements to the effect that there was no reason to do a rape kit and that the alleged victim was at fault and that with his experiences, rape cases never go anywhere and that the cases tend to come up when a person has been cheating on their significant other and wants to avoid being caught.
In the filing, Klemesrud said that Smith didn’t perform any of his duties as required by Iowa code and actively interfered with his own duty to investigate the allegations.
Smith is still on paid administrative leave. He’s been with the Charles City Police Department since 1989.
