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Ex-cop in sex sting agrees to counseling

A judge has yet to rule on the deal with the former Temple Terrace officer, the State Attorney's Office said.

By CANDACE RONDEAUX
Published October 29, 2005

TAMPA - A former Temple Terrace police officer charged with soliciting prostitution earlier this month will receive counseling as part of a pretrial intervention agreement he entered into last week, according to the Hillsborough County State Attorney's Office.

Last month, prosecutors charged John M. Gillespie, a veteran Temple Terrace detective, with propositioning a lingerie modeling shop employee during an undercover sting set up by Tampa police in July.

He was scheduled to be arraigned on the second-degree misdemeanor charge Monday, but on Oct. 19 prosecutors agreed to allow Gillespie, a first-time offender, to enter into a pretrial intervention program. A judge has yet to rule on whether the agreement will be accepted, said State Attorney's Office spokeswoman Pam Bondi.

Tampa police launched an investigation into Gillespie's activities after receiving a tip that an unnamed police officer who visited a Tampa massage parlor had twice paid a female employee for a sex act, according to an internal affairs investigation report.

Gillespie, 44, was not charged in those incidents.

He was, however, later seen on video offering Karen Smith, a model at the Legends of Sensual Secrets lingerie shop, $140 in exchange for sex, records show. According to the report, Gillespie drove his department-issued car to the Wyndham Westshore hotel where he propositioned Smith on July 28.

Gillespie was one of three police officers who ordered jail employees to photograph the body of Debra Lafave after the former Greco Middle School teacher was arrested in June 2004, charged with having sex with a 14-year-old student. Gillespie was not present when a jail deputy snapped graphic closeups of Lafave's genitals, but his name appears on the search warrant for her body, and he read the warrant to Lafave before the pictures were taken, authorities say.

Temple Terrace officials announced Monday that Gillespie had resigned from the department. But records indicate Gillespie had written a letter of resignation on Sept. 12 saying he would no longer work for the agency as of Oct. 15. Gillespie wrote the letter one day before news of the Lafave photos was made public by her attorney.

The internal affairs report also reveals that Gillespie downloaded six computer images of adult pornography. Investigators discovered that Gillespie accessed a number of pornographic Web sites, records show.

Internal affairs investigators concluded that Gillespie was guilty of 12 violations, including conduct unbecoming of an officer, nonconformance to the law and abuse of his position.

Candace Rondeaux can be reached at 813 226-3337 or rondeaux@sptimes.com

[Last modified October 29, 2005, 01:44:11]