Interim Indy chief under fire for intervening on sex offender's behalf

9-25-2012 Indiana:

An unusual move by the interim Indianapolis police chief to intervene in a probation case Friday brought criticism from the officers’ union and from an advocate for victims of sex crimes.

Rick Hite penned a letter on Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department letterhead in support of Byron Alston.

Alston is a former youth minister serving probation on a criminal confinement conviction in a 2009 case that involved allegations of sexual battery against two young women.

Alston was in court Friday facing an allegation of violating his probation, in part by missing several sex-offender counseling sessions in the spring.

That Hite would support a convict rankled the police union because it’s an action that, if taken by an officer, might violate IMPD’s policies.

A victim’s advocate expressed outrage for another reason.

“It denigrates what the victim went through if the entity charged with investigating these kinds of things takes the side of the perpetrator,” said Ann DeLaney, an Indianapolis lawyer and a longtime advocate for female victims of violence.

“When there’s a conviction, it seems to me (police) ought to identify with the victim, not the perpetrator.”

It’s unclear whether Hite’s praise for Alston’s rehabilitation — citing his work as a street violence outreach worker for the Ten Point Coalition — had any effect.

Marion Superior Court Judge Annie Christ-Garcia, who declined to comment on the case, gave Alston a warning to follow all probation terms and not to miss any more classes, even if he’s called to crime scenes by Ten Point.

Alston had cited work as the reason for the missed weekly counseling sessions.

He could not be reached for comment Friday, but Deputy Prosecutor Eric Schmadeke said Alston agreed in court to follow the judge’s order. And the prosecutor agreed to withdraw the violation petition.

Hite’s letter extolled Alston’s work after his conviction with the Ten Point Coalition. The pastor-led group sends outreach workers to crime scenes to calm tensions and avert attempts at revenge. ..continued see pages 2-3.. by Vic Ryckaert and Jon Murray