This article was prepared for the local propublica reporting network in partnership with Invisible Institute and jointly issued with Chicago sun-tims and Wbez. Sign up for sending To get such stories as soon as they are published.
A former Chicago police officer pleaded guilty on Tuesday on charges of a crime of two sexual violations with the participation of colleagues – the one that took place at the police training academy and the police station.
The case against Eric Tabba was isolated in an Investigation of the Invisible Institute-Propublica It turned out that Chicago police officers often did not see investigations of allegations of sexual disorders against city officers.
The 35 -year -old Tabb pleaded guilty to two articles of the battery in a public place, the 3rd grade crime, and was sentenced to 30 months of probation. As part of the Tabb accusation agreement, Tabb was reduced and he needed to enroll in a sexual offense program.
Tab, who was arrested in December 2023 and dismissed, is one of 14 officers accused of sexual attacks over the last decade we found, were charged at least once in sexual violations. Investigative files indicate that five of the 17 women in his academy class have given similar accounts of inappropriate sexual contacts involving Tabb.
The team of invisible reporters of the Institute considered more than 300 sexual violations and attacks on Chicago officers. Complaints were often humiliated or ignored, sometimes allowing officers to abuse again and again. The Chicago Police Department said in a statement in the story that “seriously perceived all charges of sexual attacks, including accusations against CPD members.”
During the hearings before the Cook of Cook James B. Novi, two victims of Tabb, both of whom are police officers, read applications for influence in court.
“Women I am talking about today, including I, were women who trusted Eric Tabba, spending eight months with him, creating trust in the police academy. Today, it is hoped that everyone who has suffered can put it in the past,” – read one of the officers from the prepared statement.
The judge said he agreed to the guilt agreement to allow women to put on the case.
“The only reason I went with this transaction is from the victims,” said Novi, who warned Tabb that sending him to jail unless he followed the conditions of his probationary term. “Everyone wants closing. They want to put it behind. I’m going to keep a close eye on it.”
The charges were linked to two incidents. On his birthday in August 2023 at the Wrigyville bar, Tabb allegedly turned to the conscript on the dance floor, whispered to her that he wanted to have sex, touched her chest, buttocks and groin, and then grabbed her face and tried to kiss her. The Tabb was charged with two articles on enhanced criminal violence from this incident.
The second incident happened after in December 2023, in the December 2023 police section, Tabb allegedly touched on the groin of a police officer several times when she got up to set up her belt according to the court record. She was present at the Academy’s Educational Academy.
At the preliminary hearing, the prosecutor’s office asked Novi to include two additional incidents that were not accused but were described as part of the Tabb behavior. Tabb took part in a “Star Party”, an unofficial celebration for graduates who received the icon number. At the party, the witness told the investigators that he saw Tabb grabbed another female recruitment. The same night Tabb touched the buttocks of the second conscript, an interview with police investigators and court documents.
Alexus Berd Maxi was the first recruit, which reported Tabb a few months after she and the TABB started at the Academy, but her accusation never became a part of the prosecution. According to Berda-Maxi, she leaned against the computer in a classmate in March 2023, when Tabb followed her. She said she felt his hands on the waist, and his body pressed against her.
Bird-Maxi tried to report Tabb several times but was unsuccessful. Investigative files received by the Institute of Invisible and Propublica show that Tabb told other recruits that Berd Maxi overcame and that he had only knocked her on his shoulder to get to his place. Other recruits supported his story. Almost three weeks later, there was a confrontation in which she allegedly ordered Tabb to “close her bitch” and allegedly used gangs related. Bird-Maxia denied the allegations but was fired.
Tabb and his lawyer Dan Herbert refused to comment, but Herbert had previously stated that Tabb was innocent and accused Berd Maxi of other women’s claims.
While Bird-Maxi could not attend the hearing, her mother, Huntown Bird Horn, was in the courtroom, and then told her daughter about the guilt agreement. Bird-Maxi said she was disappointed.
“He is given mercy again and again. They allow him to be a free man,” she said. “I feel that it is still not taken seriously.”
Sebastián Hidalgo has reported.
