The former building manager at Horizon Middle School who sexually assaulted an 8^th-grade student was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Arapahoe County District Court Judge Ryan Stuart on Feb. 19 sentenced Rodry Kyle Pombo, 27, as stipulated by the plea agreement. Pombo pleaded guilty Dec. 9, 2019, to one count of sexual exploitation of a child, a Class 3 felony. Other counts were dismissed.

“These cases keep coming. Despite all we do, predators find ways to take advantage of our children,” said District Attorney George Brauchler. “We drop our kids off at school to be educated in classrooms, not sexually assaulted in janitor closets. What goes on in the mind of a man who whisks a 13-year-old girl into a closet? These are egregious violations – we think our kids are safe when we send then to school, and they should be. This offender is going to prison where he can’t hurt anyone else.”

In late 2018, Aurora Police received information that a girl was sexually assaulted at the middle school over the course of the 2014-15 school year.

Investigators began looking into the allegations and interviewed the girl, who was 13 at the time of the crimes. She told the police she had numerous sexual encounters with Pombo, frequently in janitors’ closets. She had not reported the crimes at the time, but she told investigators she knew the behavior was wrong.

“Sexual predators like Mr. Pombo count on vulnerable victims to keep quiet,” said Senior Deputy District Attorney Danielle Jaramillo, who prosecuted the case. “That’s why so often this crime isn’t discovered until years later, when victims become adults and realize the scope of what was done to them. The defendant used his position as a school employee to take advantage of a student, and it is due to her strength and courage that we are able to put him behind bars so that he won’t be able to do this to another student ever again.”

Pombo resigned his job at the school in September 2015.

The plea agreement means Pombo must register as a sex offender.

BY FREDA MIKLIN
GOVERNMENTAL REPORTER

Last month, the Greenwood Village City Council rescinded its longstanding policy, adopted in 1991, requiring new police officers to possess an associate degree or the equivalent number of credit hours constituting two years of college work “from an accredited institution of higher education.” Also rescinded by the city council was the requirement that an officer possess a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution of higher education to qualify to be hired at or promoted to the exempt rank of police commander.

In place of any specific education requirements, candidates for the position of police officer and police commander will be evaluated “based on a combination of education and related work experience.”

In a staff report to the GV City Council, Dustin Varney, GV police chief and Camie Chapman, administrative services director, explained that the change was needed because the city was “continuing to experience recruitment and retention struggles due to a challenging labor market” and had “experienced a near 20 percent increase in turnover in 2019,” as well as a “39 percent decrease in the number of applications received for vacant positions.” 

As of January 6, they reported that there were 11 vacancies in GV’s police department, five police officers, four 9-1-1 technicians, one victim assistance coordinator, and one criminalist. They cited a study conducted by the Police Executive Research Forum that said, “Fewer people are applying to become police officers, and more people are leaving the profession, often after only a few years on the job.” The same study indicated that two-thirds of responding agencies required only a high school diploma or equivalent for new police officers.

Chief Varney told The Villager that when he started in 1994, there were 500 applications for every police officer position. Recently, he received 94 applications for six vacancies; 48 of those people qualified to take the initial test, and only three met the department’s stringent standards that resulted in their being hired.

A similar reevaluation of job requirements is occurring across many industries, according to Beth Cobert, CEO of Skillful, a non-profit initiative of the Markle Foundation, “dedicated to enabling all Americans—particularly the nearly 70 percent without a four-year college degree—to secure good jobs in a changing economy.” 

Cobert, who holds an economics degree from Princeton University and an MBA from Stanford University, previously served as Acting Director of the Office of Personnel Management in Washington, D.C. At the 2020 Economic Forecast Breakfast sponsored by the South Metro Denver Chamber on Jan. 24, she listed the challenges of today’s job market: 1) 1 in 3 Americans are projected to need new skills by 2030; 2) 80 percent of today’s jobs require basic technology skills; 3) nearly two-thirds of companies cannot find qualified applicants.

With job growth in Colorado at 13 percent, she explained, employers are discovering it makes sense to “hire and train workers based on skills needed for job success,” and “remove unnecessary credentials,” focusing instead on “skills to support workers throughout their careers.”

Cobert said that the implementation of skills-based practices allows employers to: 1) find new pools of qualified talent; 2) create an agile workforce; 3) increase diversity; and 4) improve employee retention and engagement.

She said, “Employers need to recognize aptitude because so many skills needed today weren’t taught to anyone in school.” As an example of recognizing and utilizing the skills and talent of a potential employee, Cobert talked about a sushi chef who was hired as a lens grinder for an optical company who realized that the fine motor skills that he had developed carefully cutting sushi were directly transferable to the delicate work of grinding optical lenses.

Fmiklin.villager@gmail.com

18th Judicial District Attorney George Brauchler is pleased to announce the dates for the 2020 Spring Citizens Academy.

This free, seven-week academy will be held on consecutive Wednesday evenings from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., April 8  to May 20 in the Douglas County office, 4000 Justice Way, Castle Rock. 

Each of the seven classes explores the role of various members of the office. The academy gives students an in-depth look at what happens between the time someone is arrested, all the way through trial and conviction.

Attendees will explore the different functions of the specialized units within the District Attorney’s Office, including but not limited to the Special Victims Unit, Economic Crimes Unit, Cold Case Unit, Crime Scene Investigations, County Court and Juvenile Justice. Students also will have the chance to learn the intricacies of a jury trial.

Limited spaces are available. Preference will be given to applicants who live in the 18th Judicial District and are first-time attendees. Participants must be at least 18 years old, complete an application and pass a criminal background check to be considered for attendance. Members of the media and family members of employees are welcome to apply.

The application is on the office web site:

Citizen’s Academy

The deadline for applications is March 6, 2020.

Please submit the completed application in one of the following ways:

Via U.S. mail: Alejandra Flores, Office of the District Attorney – 18th Judicial District, 6450 S Revere Parkway, Centennial CO 80111

Via email: aflores@da18.state.co.us

Via fax: 720 874-8790

Once the academy is full, applicants will be placed on a waiting list. Attendees will be notified of their acceptance in the academy no later than March 25, 2020.

An Aurora police officer pleaded guilty last week to driving under the influence and prohibited used of a weapon – drunk with a gun. Both counts are misdemeanors.

Douglas County Court Judge Susanna Meissner-Cutler on Jan. 9 sentenced Annette Brook, 56, of Parker, to 20 days of in-home detention and 12 months probation.

Prosecutors asked for 10 days in jail.

On June 17, 2019, Colorado State Patrol troopers responded to westbound C-470 and Lucent Boulevard in Douglas County on a report of a single-car crash.

A 2017 Jeep Cherokee driven by Brook, who was off-duty, had hit a concrete highway barrier. 

Brooks said she had fallen asleep at the wheel, but it was determined her blood-alcohol content was 0.227, well above the legal limit of 0.08.

A loaded handgun was in a bag in the SUV.

“Nobody is above the law in our community. Police, plumber, principal, or otherwise are equally protected and accountable under our laws,” said District Attorney George Brauchler. “When a well-investigated DUI case is brought to us, we will pursue it without regard to title, occupation, station, or demographic. DUI is dangerous, illegal and wrong every single time.”

A former Aurora police officer was given a suspended prison sentence with 18 months in jail on work release for stealing from two charities for which he served as treasurer.

Arapahoe County District Court Judge Ben Leutwyler today sentenced Roland Albert for stealing a combined $65,000 over a period of 15 months from the two charities that offer assistance families of law enforcement families.

“It is difficult to find words of condemnation commensurate with a person — a sworn police officer —who steals from charities to enrich himself,” said District Attorney George Brauchler. “He has forfeited the honorable title ‘police officer’ and he has earned the title ‘convicted felon.’ No person, law enforcement or otherwise, is above our laws.”

Brauchler added: “I commend the Aurora Police Department for investigating their own and appropriately seeking prosecution for these despicable acts.”

Aurora Police internal affairs officers were investigating Albert for another reason when they discovered an issue with one charity. They contacted the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office in August 2018 to take over the criminal investigation.

Sheriff’s investigators found money missing from that charity beginning in December 2017. Knowing Albert was also treasurer of another charity, they looked there, as well. More money was found to be missing since May 2017 and a warrant was obtained for Albert’s arrest on Feb. 28, 2019.

The investigation determined Albert stole $57,613 from the first charity and $7,753 from the second charity. 

On Oct. 7, 2019, Albert pleaded guilty to one count of theft of $20,000 to $100,000, which is a Class 4 felony. Other counts were dismissed as part of the plea agreement. 

Representatives from each organization spoke at the sentencing, outlining the damage the defendant had done to their work, their members, their reputations and to law enforcement officers in general.

On Dec. 16, Judge Leutwyler imposed a 4-year suspended sentence to the Department of Corrections, dependent on successful completion of 5 years of economic crimes probation. Probation will include 18 months in jail on work release and payment of restitution.

“This officer deliberately took action 47 times to steal from charities that had entrusted him with their finances. These were organizations created to assist his fellow officers, and to which many of his colleagues donated,” said Senior Deputy District Attorney Steve Fauver, who prosecuted the case. “This man was stealing from his friends and coworkers and literally stealing from orphans – all while he was an officer sworn to uphold the law.”

A new study found that Colorado has the nation’s No. 12th highest rate of drunk-driving arrests. Colorado’s rate of DUI arrests in 2018 was 411.0 per 100,000; the national average was 330 per 100,000.

An estimated 30 people are killed in drunk-driving accidents every day in the U.S. Despite the widespread awareness of the dangers of drinking and driving, many states have rates of DUI arrests that are troubling.

US Drug Test Centers.com released its study, Worst States for DUIs, which uses the latest data from the FBI on arrests for driving under the influence in 2018 and how those rates have changed over time.

Here are key findings in Colorado:

• No. 13 in rate of DUI arrests with 411.0 per 100,000 in 2018.
• No. 4 for most years with DUI rate in top 10 between 2009 and 2018
• No. 24 in 10-year change between 2009 and 2018 with -31.2% decrease.

Here are key national findings:

• The 10 states with the highest DUI rates are: South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, North Carolina, Mississippi, New Mexico, Maine, Washington, Alaska and Wisconsin.
• The 10 states with the lowest DUI rates are: Missouri, Arkansas, Connecticut, Alabama, Ohio, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Illinois, Delaware
• More than half of DUI arrests were in people between the ages of 21 and 39.

For more information visit the link below:

https://www.usdrugtestcenters.com/research-articles/14/worst-states-for-duis.html

An Arapahoe County jury took 90 minutes Tuesday to convict Ble Ghislain Kore, 25, of raping two juveniles in Aurora.

On Sept. 13, 2018, the defendant approached a juvenile walking home from Overland High School. He approached the victim saying to get into his car, as he knew who she was and that he had someone watching her mother. Concerned for her mom, she got in the car and he drove to the guest parking lot of her apartment complex where he raped her. She was scared because he knew where she lived. 

Later that afternoon, the defendant drove up to another juvenile walking in the parking lot at Overland High School and asked for her phone number. When she tried to walk away, he demanded she get in his car. He drove her to another parking lot near the school and raped her. 

The two victims did not know the defendant or each other. 

Aurora Police Department investigated the incidents and connected them due to the similar descriptions of the car and defendant. In addition, the DNA of the defendant was found on both juveniles. Kore initially denied any sexual contact but later admitted to them during interviews. 

After a four-day trial, on Dec. 10, the jury found the defendant guilty of sexual assault – use of force (Class 3 felony) and sexual assault – overcoming a victim’s will (Class 4 felony). 

The defendant is eligible for probation under Colorado sentencing guidelines. 

Senior Deputy District Attorneys Danielle Jaramillo and Jake Adkins prosecuted this case. 

The sentencing hearing is set for Feb. 27, 2020, at 1:30 .m. in Division 408. 

BY FREDA MIKLIN
GOVERNMENTAL REPORTER

On Wednesday, October 30, three armed robbers disguised with dark-colored hoodies, masks, and sunglasses, robbed a Brink’s armored truck at approximately 2:30 p.m. at the Bank of Colorado at 5201 S. Yosemite Street in Greenwood Village. They were armed with one AK47 variant and two semi-automatic handguns.

The suspects were described as all being 5’10” to 6’ tall. Two were said to have average builds and one was described as heavyset. None of their races were able to be determined because they were fully covered. They arrived and fled in a grey Nissan Pathfinder with stolen license plates. The vehicle is thought to be a 2013 to 2016 model. One matching that description has since been located and impounded, according to the FBI, not far from where the robbery occurred. No further information on the vehicle has been released. The amount of money stolen has not been made public.

This crime is presently in the hands of the FBI. There is a $2,000 reward being offered for assistance in solving it. Anyone with information on this bank robbery is encouraged to call the FBI Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force at 303-629-7171. You can also call CRIMESTOPPERS at 720-913-STOP (7867) and remain anonymous.

Special Agent Amy Meyer, Public Affairs Office at the FBI can be reached at aemeyer@fbi.gov for additional information if it becomes available.

Fmiklin.villager@gmail.com