BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – A longtime detective with the Broward Sheriff’s Office now finds himself on the other side of the law.
Det. Demetrious Campbell has been with BSO for 21 years, assigned to the special victims unit that investigates sensitive sex crimes.
The 48-year-old sworn deputy is accused of dropping the ball on multiple cases by allegedly lying about statements and evidence, and even closing out sex crime cases without a proper investigation.
The situation came to light when a sexual battery victim called BSO to get a status update on her case.
Campbell’s supervisor got involved after records revealed she was uncooperative, something she adamantly denied.
After BSO’s Public Corruption Unit reopened the case and re-interviewed that witness, an investigator said the witness denied making the statements that Campbell wrote she did.
There are also accusations of subtle threats Campbell allegedly against some of the victims.
Campbell is accused of telling one woman, an illegal immigrant, “It doesn’t make any sense to go any further with this case, because nothing is going to come from it and not to use this as a tool to get a visa,” according to official documents.
There were nearly 100 cases that were assigned to Campbell and investigators have reopened the 41 that he had previously deemed unfounded.
Sheriff Gregory Tony issued a statement late Tuesday that read, in part:
“I expect all BSO employees to serve with virtuous character and integrity. Failure to fully investigate such serious crimes is reprehensible and downright disgraceful. The public can rest assured all unfounded SVU cases investigated by Campbell will be reopened and thoroughly reviewed.”
Campbell is expected to appear before a judge on Wednesday. He is facing nine counts of official misconduct and one count of extortion.