ST. LOUIS — A former North County Police Cooperative officer charged with sexually assaulting more than a half-dozen people he arrested is now accused by federal prosecutors of covertly taking photos of people in public bathrooms.
Authorities said they have identified at least 10 more victims.
Marcellis Blackwell, 34, of ӣƵ, is already facing 16 counts of the civil rights charge deprivation of rights under the color of law and five counts of altering records in a federal investigation. He was also charged in ӣƵ County with arresting and sexually assaulting a handcuffed man near Normandy High School.
And prosecutors said Monday that in addition to the covert photos and assault victims — many of whom were taken to isolated areas before he turned off his body camera and abused them, according to charges — prosecutors also found photos of dozens of driver’s licenses and several high school IDs on Blackwell’s cellphone.
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The latest accusations were part of federal prosecutors’ argument on Monday that Blackwell should stay in jail until trial. He has not been charged in connection with the latest allegations.
Blackwell’s lawyer opposed a federal judge’s earlier decision to keep Blackwell in jail, arguing Blackwell has no criminal history and has an incentive to show up to court dates because he has family in the ӣƵ region.
“He has a stable residence in Illinois where he can live with his mother and be subject to monitoring while on pretrial release,” the motion says.
Blackwell
But in prosecutors’ counter to that argument, they noted that Blackwell took photos of private citizens who had not been arrested in a small elevator and public restrooms where he recorded men at urinals or in stalls from under a wall of an adjacent stall. Some of those photos were taken while he was on duty as a police officer.
Blackwell also photographed about 120 personal IDs, mainly driver’s licenses, and kept them on his phone along with pictures of several Normandy High School student ID cards, which contained their name, grade and a photograph, federal prosecutors said.
“Considering the data that (Blackwell) collected and retained and the knowledge that there are additional victims cooperating with continued investigation, the safety of the community in general, as well as specific individuals, is at risk should the defendant be released,” the motion from Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Krug says.
Beyond the photos, prosecutors also say Blackwell, a former trucker, has failed to appear for other court dates. He and his company, One Stop Transportation, were sued in 2016 after an insurance company said he sent a bad check and then failed to pay roughly $19,000 on a commercial insurance policy. He was ordered to pay that amount back in 2018.
Three years later, when he applied for the police academy and later the North County Police Cooperative in north ӣƵ County, he did not disclose the existence of One Stop Transportation nor the garnishment against him, prosecutors said. He still hasn’t paid back the money.
“This indicates deceit and/or fraud by the defendant,” Krug wrote.
Blackwell had worked for the North County Police Cooperative, which polices eight small municipalities, for just over a year when he was charged with the assaults near Normandy High School.
A judge will rule at a later date whether Blackwell should stay in jail until trial. The attorney in his federal case declined comment Monday.
Blackwell is set to appear in ӣƵ County court on Dec. 11.
