A Salt Lake City police officer was charged Wednesday with sexual battery after he allegedly hit a woman on the butt with a boxing glove during a work training this summer.
The police department has since opened an internal investigation into officer Jeffrey Kevin Loosle, 52, and placed him on administrative leave, according to an email Chief Mike Brown sent to employees Wednesday. He said the department also asked Unified police to investigate the case.
“Sexual misconduct is an issue that I, as your Chief, take seriously. It is essential our workplace remains safe, inclusive and respectful for everyone,” Brown wrote. “When allegations of wrongdoing arise, our department will handle them appropriately and with great care.”
Charging documents state that the woman was standing near a table on May 4 when she felt a “hard slap” that “jolted her body.” She turned around and saw Loosle sitting behind her and making “direct eye contact.” Charging documents state she asked him, “What the f---?” but Loosle didn’t respond.
The two spoke the next day, the documents state, and Loosle told the woman he was trying to get her attention when he struck her. He allegedly said he hit her with a coffee cup and then asked if she’d told her husband.
The woman’s husband told police that when he and Loosle spoke about a week later, Loosle apologized to him and said he thought the woman was “one of the guys” and “admitted to smacking her with a boxing glove,” charging documents state.
When a Unified police detective later spoke with Loosle, he said the woman and someone else were talking and he wanted to chime in, so he reached out and touched her with a boxing glove.
“Loosle stated he attempted contact with [the woman’s] arm, but the boxing glove ‘went limp,’ and he was unsure where it touched her,” according to charging documents.
The documents also state Loosle said he reached out to the woman’s husband to “tell him his side of the events.”
A Unified police spokesperson declined to release additional information about the case, saying that detectives had turned it over to the Salt Lake County district attorney’s office.
Salt Lake City police also said they could not release anymore details about the allegations because of the pending criminal investigation.
Brown, in the email, encouraged any employees who have experienced sexual misconduct or harassment to report it, and said retaliation for those who come forward “is not tolerated.”
“As employees of the Salt Lake City Police Department, we hold ourselves to the highest standards,” Brown wrote. “It is our responsibility to reflect our core values in our day-to-day actions.”
Loosle is facing two counts of sexual battery, both class A misdemeanors. An initial court date was not scheduled as of Thursday afternoon, court records show.
Follow @PaightenHarkins