13 Lewisville officers disciplined after 'inappropriate contact' during prostitution busts
File photo of a police lights atop a patrol vehicle
LEWISVILLE, Texas - More than a dozen of Lewisville Police Department’s officers faced disciplinary action after an investigation found that they acted inappropriately while trying to catch prostitution suspects at local massage parlors.
In a statement, Lewisville Police Chief Brook Rollins said the misconduct happened between October of 2022 and June of 2024.
That’s when the department’s undercover officers began an operation targeting alleged prostitution at massage establishments in the city.
The operation yielded 23 cases in two years with 32 criminal charges against 28 suspects at 10 businesses. However, the Denton County District Attorney rejected all of those cases.
"The DA’s office stated they were not able to prosecute these cases because the undercover officers had been engaging in inappropriate physical contact with the suspected prostitutes. I obtained the list of declined cases from the DA, and we immediately began an administrative review," Chief Rollins said.
An internal review found 13 Lewisville police officers violated the city and department's policy prohibiting physical contact once probable cause for a prostitution arrest has been established.
In other words, once the undercover officers agreed to pay for the sexual contact, probable cause was legally established, and no touching needed to occur.
"Internal Affairs found that the personnel involved began with good intentions but gradually turned from appropriate to inappropriate acts. In other words, nobody set out to do wrong, but over time, erosion of good conduct occurred, and we ended up where we are now," Rollins said.
The chief said there’s no evidence any of the officers had sex with the suspects, and some of the officers who were disciplined were supervisors.
In the end, three officers were fired, one was demoted, and seven were suspended without pay. Two were also given counseling, and several were reassigned from their undercover roles.
"To the residents of Lewisville, this entire incident is embarrassing and disappointing. As the Chief of Police for the Lewisville Police Department, it is my job to ensure the department operates with the utmost professionalism, integrity, and honor. I am sorry that we fell short of that," Rollins said.
The results of the department’s internal review were turned over to the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Rangers for a criminal investigation.
So far, no officers are facing criminal charges.