“When they say 'we need more evidence' you should take that seriously,” Mitchell said of prosecutors investigating child sex crimes cases.
MARICOPA COUNTY, Ariz. — Valley residents are confused as to why multiple child sex crime cases have been dismissed or returned to police for further investigation, with three high-profile cases reported by 12News in recent weeks.
When the Maricopa County Prosecutor's Office dismisses a criminal case, it means that no charges will be filed in the future. This is usually done when there is no reasonable prospect of obtaining a conviction in a future trial.
Remanding a case back to the police means prosecutors need more evidence to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt, the standard for obtaining a conviction in a criminal case.
This has happened multiple times over the past three months. In each case, suspected child sexual abusers were arrested, booked into jail, and had their mugshots taken. All of them appeared in court within hours of their arrest and were briefed on their alleged crimes.
However, when it came time to formally charge them, they were all released because no charges had been filed.
“What we look at is whether the elements of the crime — the various things that have to be proven in court — can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, or whether there is a possible defense,” Mitchell said of what prosecutors look at when they receive a case from law enforcement.
Involved in those three cases are Cody Weaver, Karl Komorowski and Joseph Kinney.
Queen Creek police executed a search warrant and descended on Weaver's home this spring after receiving a tip that he was uploading child sexual abuse material to his Gmail account.
His case was returned to the Queen Creek Police Department by Mitchell's office in July, where it remains in charge — a decision that outraged one victim advocate.
“Why is Maricopa County letting this go,” questioned Kaylee Kozak. “Authorities found these videos collected on devices in this man's home, and he admitted to police that he did, in fact, view underage pornography.”
Last week in Glendale, police said Komorowski fired a gun at police outside his home. Police returned fire, killing the suspect, police said.
In July, Glendale police arrested him on suspicion of child sexual exploitation, but the case was returned to police by the MCAO for further evidence collection. When Komorowski returned home from jail, his wife told 12News he was a different person. She explained why she had to file for a protective order against him:
“Threats of violence and physical violence to keep our daughter safe. It's torn my heart apart because my husband is not the man I married,” the wife said.
Mitchell says the additional evidence that needed to be examined was forensic.
“We felt that in these two cases we needed to solidify that because before we could move forward with charges, we needed to have cell phone and digital evidence examined, to see that it was there and what it was,” Mitchell said.
In Buckeye, local residents are angered by the MCAO's dismissal of a case against former Buckeye Union High School principal Joseph Kinney, who the FBI alleges had sexually explicit conversations with an undercover agent who he believed to be a 12-year-old girl.
Mitchell said prosecutors failed to prove Kinney knew he was talking to a 12-year-old girl.
“There were photos that had been aged to appear as obviously older people, and it made me question whether that was really true,” Mitchell said.
Maricopa County's top prosecutor says her office is working tirelessly to protect the community from suspected child abusers, even if the timeline for prosecutions doesn't sit well with everyone.
“When authorities say they need additional evidence to be taken seriously, they know what's needed in court. They're trying to strengthen the case so we can best protect our community,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell said prosecutors filed 37 cases involving child sexual abuse allegations in August alone, which he said shows how “aggressive” prosecutors are being against these types of crimes.
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