PHOTO: Milwaukee WI Police Officer Marcell Daniels
A Milwaukee police officer has been charged with having a sexual relationship a decade ago with an underage teen girl whom he met after she was arrested.
Marcell H. Daniels, 45, made his initial appearance in court Monday on charges of second-degree sexual assault of a child, child sexual exploitation and child enticement, all felonies that bring a combined maximum potential prison sentence of 105 years.
Daniels had just retired from the Milwaukee Police Department on Jan. 3, according to a WITI-TV report, and he was featured in the Milwaukee police union's latest newsletter as celebrating 25 years on the job.
He also was featured in a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story in September on the "Educate 2 Empower" workshop at Milwaukee Area Technical College, a two-day program that sought to strengthen relationships between police and students.
"Policing, it should be transparent," Daniels said at the time. "There should be no secrets about it. You guys should know what we do, whether there's a camera on us or not."
In 2005, a 14-year-old girl met Daniels after she and a friend were arrested, according to the criminal complaint against him. After she was released from custody, an officer, presumably Daniels, drove her home, and about a week later she started getting phone calls from him, the complaint says.
Daniel had a relationship with the girl for several years, until she was 18, and she told police recently that they had sexual intercourse several times, the complaint says. It also identifies several photos Daniels took of the girl.
Those photos were the catalyst for Daniels arrest. His wife contacted authorities to report that she had found a USB drive containing sexually explicit photos of a teen girl, and she gave permission for investigators to search the couple's laptop, where they found photos of the girl.
Daniels is scheduled to return to court on Feb. 1 for a preliminary hearing. He was released on a $5,000 cash bond, online court record show, and the judge ordered him to have no contact with the victim or anyone under age 17.
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