Coconut Creek police officer arrested, accused of sexual battery

 

April 14, 2016

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coconut Creek police officer Daniel Rush was arrested Thursday on sexual battery charges after two teenagers came forward, the Broward Sheriff’s Office said.

Officer Rush was taken into custody at the Coconut Creek Police Department on one count of custodial sexual battery and two counts of lewd and lascivious molestation, Broward Sherriff’s Deputies said.

 

He appeared in court Friday morning, where he was ordered to be held in jail without bond.

The accusation against Rush surfaced after a 13-year-old victim wrote a note about the incident and handed it to a parishioner at the Church of Christ in Pompano Beach on Sunday.

The note detailed the claims of sexual misconduct, Sherriff’s Deputies said.

The church member asked for the identity of the person mentioned in the note, and the teen said it was Rush, Sherriff’s Deputies said.

The teen then begged the parishioner not to confront Rush.

That church member turned the note over to deputies Monday, deputies said.

 

Broward Sherriff’s Deputies went to the church, where they spoke to the teen about the allegations, deputies said, and the teen's parents were notified.

The teen began to cry after he confirmed that he wrote the note and said the incident took place inside Rush's Coconut Creek home, Sherriff’s Deputies said.

The Coconut Creek Police Department was then notified about the allegations.

The department then made a formal request for the BSO to handle the investigation.

During the investigation, the teen told deputies that Rush invited him to go to a movie and went back to Rush's home so he could change his clothes, an arrest report said.

After Rush changed, he took the teen to his patrol vehicle, where he sat and played with the siren, the arrest report said.

Rush then took the teen to his personal vehicle, where they waited for a text message from someone else, the report said.

While in the car, the teen was told to go back inside the house to get a pair of keys, the report said.

When the teen returned, Rush began to fondle him, the report said.

The teen told Rush to stop, the report said, and Rush complied, asking the teen to go back inside the home and get another set of keys.

Rush then spoke to the teen, but his comments were blacked out from the police report.

Rush and the teen then picked up another child, went to Hooters for dinner and then to see a movie, the report said.

 

Deputies contacted Rush after the teen made his statements.

The officer agreed to voluntarily speak to deputies, the report said.

Rush confirmed that he had taken the teen to the movies about a year ago and that the teen would tag along when Rush would go out with his brother, the report said.

Rush said that the teen would invite himself out and that he never invited him.

 

Rush also told deputies that he was never alone with the teen and that there were always other children around, the report said.

A second victim came forward Wednesday, claiming that Rush fondled him, deputies said.

This teen told deputies that Rush would take him shopping and "other fun places all the time," the report said.

 

He said that Rush fondled him at a stop light once, the report said, and that he stopped when asked.

Rush has denied the allegations against him. He has been placed on unpaid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

 

Coconut Creek Police Chief Butch Arenal was surprised to hear about the arrest.

"Our agency is not only in a state of shock, but this has been a blow to everything we stand for," Arenal said.

 

Police are concerned that there may be more victims, as Rush is the co-founder of a youth mentoring program called Men on Virtue and Ethics, or M.O.V.E.

Prior to joining the Coconut Creek Police Department, Rush was an explorer for six years.

The Broward Sheriff’s Office is asking for anyone with additional information to contact Detective Ann Suter at 954-321-4240 or Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS.

 

 

UPDATE

 

 

 

More charges for Coconut Creek officer as fourth accuser surfaces

APRIL 22, 2016

 

A fourth accuser has stepped forward against Coconut Creek police officer Daniel Rush, increasing the number of criminal charges against him, authorities say.

Officer Daniel Rashad Rush first was arrested April 14 on charges he molested two young boys, authorities said.

Additional molestation-related charges were tacked on the next day when a third accuser emerged, records show.

Then Friday, based on new allegations presented by the fourth accuser, Rush was charged with four counts of lewd and lascivious behavior on a child over age 12, according to a Broward sheriff's complaint affidavit.

 

Rush has been held in the main jail, segregated from the general population for his protection, since he was arrested.

 

 

UPDATE

 

 

 

MAY 12, 2016

 

Bond set at $15,000 for Coconut Creek officer accused of molestation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Charges were reduced and a $15,000 bond was set for a Coconut Creek police officer accused of molesting four young boys, the officer's lawyer said.

Six of the original eight charges against Daniel Rush, 26, were punishable by life in prison, and Rush was not automatically entitled to a bond.

But when prosecutors reduced the charges to second-degree felonies, punishable by a maximum of 15 years in prison, they also agreed to a bond of $2,500 on each of eight counts, said Rush’s defense lawyer Johnny McCray.

Rush is now charged with three counts of lewd and lascivious molestation, one count of lewd and lascivious battery, one count of false imprisonment and one count of misdemeanor battery. If convicted on all counts, he faces a maximum of 66 years in prison.

Prosecutors also asked Broward Circuit Judge Edward Merrigan for an order prohibiting Rush from contacting the victims while he is out of custody.

 

Again, The Broward Sheriff’s Office is asking for anyone with additional information to contact Detective Ann Suter at 954-321-4240 or Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS.