A former Springfield Police officer pleaded guilty in Sangamon County Court on April 9 to multiple charges related to sexual abuse and misconduct from a 2021 arrest.
At the status hearing before Presiding Circuit Judge Ryan Cadagin, Taylor Staff pleaded guilty to aggravated criminal sexual abuse, two counts of official misconduct, one count of custodial sexual misconduct and one count of criminal sexual abuse.
Staff, who was 26 years old at the time of his arrest in February of 2021, faces up to seven years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. His sentencing date is July 8.
At the time, Staff had been an SPD officer for three years.
Springfield Police Officer Taylor Staff appears via video from the Sangamon County Jail in front of Judge Jennifer Ascher on charges of criminal sexual assault, three counts of official misconduct and custodial sexual misconduct at the Sangamon County Complex in Springfield, on Feb. 25, 2021.
The misconduct and abuse occurred while Staff was on duty between January and July of 2020 and involved three separate victims. Former Springfield Police Chief Kenny Winslow said at the time that it “appeared” that the three victims were “in custody or they were being detained” by Staff.
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All of the acts of abuse and misconduct were reported by other officers.
Winslow called the then-allegations “upsetting”, but said that “if there is a positive, it was that this was reported by our officers and run up the chain of command. This shows our officers do the right thing.”
SPD conducted an informal inquiry into the abuse and misconduct. At the conclusion, Winslow said, there were “some troubling things that appeared to be potentially criminal in nature, so we contacted ISP to do the independent outside investigation.”
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Staff posted bond around the time he was arrested.
Springfield was Staff’s first police job, Winslow said. Staff worked as a patrol officer.
Steven Spearie contributed to this report.
Tom Ackerman covers breaking news and trending news along with general news for the Springfield State Journal-Register. He can be reached at tackerman@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Now ex-Springfield police officer pleads guilty to sexual abuse charges