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Police Officer Posed for Pictures with Ben Roethlisberger Before Complaint

Mar 12, 2010, 3:51 PM UTC

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â†µâ†µThese photos, first posted by the Union-Recorder are sure to be the subject of great debate as the investigation of Ben Roethlisberger rolls along. The man with Roethlisberger is Sgt. Jerry Blash. He was also tasked with initially investigating the sexual assault complaint against the Steelers QB. These photos were taken an hour before Roethlisberger’s accuser filed the complaint.â†µ

â†µâ†µMore from the Union-Recorder:â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥Police Chief Woodrow Blue said he was not troubled by the photographs, adding that his officers handled the case correctly from the onset.â†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥“The photographs did not and have not affected the investigation at all,” said Blue.â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥And while Blash, an eight-year veteran of the Milledgeville Police Department, was the officer approached by the alleged victim and the officer who wrote the incident report, Blue said Blash had little involvement in the subsequent investigation.â†µâ‡¥

â†µâ†µâ†µEven if Blash isn’t involved in the ongoing investigation, couldn’t a friendly interaction between Roethlisberger and the officer color the perception of a person approaching him an hour later with a sexual assault complaint? I could only see this as particularly troublesome if the accuser feels like Blash was dismissive of her complaint. That doesn’t seem like that was the case, as there’s an ongoing investigation.â†µ

â†µâ†µ(H/T to Pro Football Talk)â†µ

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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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