Prosecutors charged a Chicago police officer Friday with allegedly filming as he sexually abused sleeping children whom he met while working.
Officer David P. Deleon, 30, was charged with eight felonies Friday, including allegations he filmed child pornography and committed sexual abuse and assault. Chicago police stripped Deleon of his police powers in March after prosecutors accused him of sexually abusing and punching a 17-year-old boy in a separate case.
Judge Barbara Dawkins ordered Deleon held without bail Friday at the Leighton Criminal Court Building. He was remanded to the Cook County Jail pending trial, according to the sheriff’s office.
The victims Deleon allegedly abused between November 2021 and March 2023 include boys who were 13 and 14 years old at the time, as well as a man who was 23 years old when abused, prosecutors said.
Deleon met the two children “while working in his capacity as a Chicago police officer,” according to a state’s attorney petition requesting bail be denied. The boys and the man were unaware they had been abused when they slept at Deleon’s house until investigators showed them videos Deleon had made showing the abuse, prosecutors said.
The officer’s cellphone had been seized by Norridge police after he was arrested on separate accusations of sexual abuse and battery in March. The suburban police department turned the phone over to the Cook County sheriff’s office when it found evidence of crimes against children, prosecutors said.
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Sheriff’s deputies searching Deleon’s phone with a warrant found evidence of “numerous juvenile male children” “hanging out” with the officer at his residence in Chicago’s Dunning neighborhood, prosecutors said.
“The children are observed to be consuming alcohol, smoking hookah, and dressing in Chicago police uniforms and ballistics vests, as well as holding and holstering firearms,” prosecutors said.
The officer, who prosecutors said has served with Chicago police since 2017, had also searched online for “drugs that makes u fall asleep” and “heroine drug,” his Internet history revealed.
The 23-year-old victim slept in Deleon’s guest bedroom and didn’t know he had been abused until investigators showed him footage taken by Deleon in which he molests the victim and secretly records the man having sex with another person, prosecutors said.
The 14-year-old victim told investigators he met Deleon after going to the police station following a battery in which the officer was involved in an arrest. That same night, Deleon sent the child a friend request on Snapchat, prosecutors said.
The two arranged to meet and got food together at 3 a.m. before going back to Deleon’s residence, according to prosecutors. The teenager played video games and fell asleep on the couch. He woke up at 6 a.m. the next day and went home.
Investigators found numerous photos and videos of Deleon pulling down the 14-year-old’s pants and molesting the boy.
The child, asleep the whole time, “was unaware of the defendant’s acts against him,” prosecutors said.
Deleon had met the 13-year-old victim when he responded to a call near the child’s house a few years ago, prosecutors said. They met again when one of the boy’s parents was arrested. The day after the arrest, Deleon and the child went to dinner together.
They continued to go out for meals, and Deleon paid each time, prosecutors said. The boy went to Deleon’s house just once and slept on the couch, prosecutors said. That night, the officer made videos holding the sleeping boy’s pants down and fondling him, prosecutors said.
Police arrested Deleon on Thursday and obtained warrants to search his home and other electronic devices, prosecutors said.
Deleon had posted $1,000 to be released from custody shortly after his March arrest, court records show. He was required to surrender any firearms and have no contact with anyone under the age of 18, Judge Ellen Mandeltort ordered.
Before the first arrest, Deleon had met with a 17-year-old boy at Harlem Irving Plaza in Norridge. The officer had told the teen he would help him put oil in his car, prosecutors alleged in March.
When they met, Deleon drove to the lower level of a parking garage, put his car in park and sexually abused the teen, prosecutors said. When the victim opened the door and tried to leave, Deleon pulled the door shut after grabbing the victim by his collar and pulling the victim toward him, prosecutors said.
Deleon then “punched” the victim, causing the teen’s head to hit the seat belt buckle holder. That’s when Deleon tried to climb on top of the victim, who put his feet on the dashboard to prevent that from happening and was able to climb into the driver’s seat to escape, prosecutors said. The teen told authorities what happened later that day.
In an indictment brought in May, prosecutors charged Deleon with 12 felonies, including charges for kidnapping, criminal sexual abuse, battery and unlawful restraint.
The state’s attorney’s office called Deleon a “flight risk” as it requested Deleon be given no bail for the new charges, citing a recent trip he took to the country he was born in, the Philippines.
A CPD spokesperson confirmed Friday that Deleon is “in a no-pay” status. The officer is scheduled to next appear in court on Sept. 6 for a status hearing.
