HENDRICKS COUNTY, Ind. — An IMPD officer is facing charges for multiple counts of child sex crimes in Hendricks County.
Kamal Bola, 35, of Avon, was arrested and booked into the Hendricks County Jail shortly after 11 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 3 on preliminary charges of child molesting (three counts) and public voyeurism, all of which are felonies.
On Thursday, Sept. 5, prosecutors filed the following formal charges against Bola:
- Three counts of child molesting
- Two counts of sexual misconduct with a minor
- One count of voyeurism
- One count of obstruction of justice
IMPD said in a statement Wednesday that earlier Sept. 3, a family member of the victim reported the allegations to a detective at the Hendricks County Sheriff’s Office. Detectives from the sheriff's office investigated the claims, interviewed Bola and he was arrested shortly after.
According to court documents, the victim told investigators Bola first touched her inappropriately when she was a teenager.
Investigators spoke with Bola, who denied the accusations at first but then allegedly admitted to the multiple incidents, saying he "f***ed up."
IMPD detectives with its special investigations unit were contacted when investigators discovered Bola was an off-duty IMPD officer.
The Hendricks County Sheriff's Office said Bola is currently being held without bond.
At a hearing Sept. 9, the state requested Bola surrender his passports within 24 hours of posting bond. His next hearing is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Oct. 21.
IMPD said Chief Chris Bailey learned of the allegations Sept. 4 and suspended Bola from the department pending the recommendation of termination to the IMPD Civilian Merit Board.
The department said it has collected all of Bola's department-issued equipment and Bola no longer has "police powers."
Bola is a six-year-veteran of IMPD and was most recently assigned to the Southwest District.
“These allegations against the officer are disturbing and entirely unacceptable,” Bailey said in a statement. “Children must be able to trust that those in positions of authority will protect them at all times. We demand the highest standards of conduct from our officers, both on and off duty. These allegations represent a severe breach of trust the community places in law enforcement. Our thoughts are with the victim and their family. Ensuring the safety of our community, especially our most vulnerable members, is and will remain our highest priority."
Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett posted a statement about the arrest on X, saying, in part, that Bailey's swift action to suspend Bola "sends a clear message that IMPD does not and will not tolerate behavior such as this."
Bola's arrest comes weeks after IMPD Sgt. Javed Richards was charged with child exploitation and possession of child pornography.
Additionally, two more IMPD officers have been charged with sex crimes in 2024.
The Indianapolis Fraternal Order of Police issued the following statement Thursday afternoon:
“Our collective organization is deeply disturbed by recent revelations within the criminal charges brought against members of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department for sexual abuse of children.
We are sickened by the details contained within these criminal allegations.
We fully support the swift actions of IMPD Police Chief, Chris Bailey, to promptly investigate these matters, immediately suspend the police powers of those involved, and initiate the process of separating these employees from the agency.
While the FOP will have no role in the defense of these officers, we are mindful of the presumption of innocence unless and until proven guilty.
As due process continues, we encourage full accountability for any such behavior.
Tragically we are reminded that no profession is immune from such predatory possibilities.
However, the law enforcement profession requires the trust and confidence of those we serve (and work alongside).
Nevertheless, the shock of these matters is felt by all our policing professionals.
Ensuring daylight within the darkness of such alleged deeds, helps to restore that which has been tarnished.
We pray for the strength and healing of the victims.”
Sgt. Javed Richards
IMPD Sgt. Javed Richards, who has been with the department for 12 years and was most recently assigned to the Internal Affairs Unit, is facing 14 felony charges of child exploitation and possession of child pornography.
Richards was arrested after a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on Aug. 6.
A week later, detectives received evidence that an IP address came back to a personal home router with the same name as Richards.
On Aug. 16, the detective obtained additional evidence through search warrants, which confirmed the alleged suspect was Richards. At that point, detectives from IMPD's Special Investigation Unit were notified and joined the investigation.
According to court documents, during that investigation, detectives put together a timeline of a weekend in which Richards' body camera GPS data showed a stop outside his apartment followed by child pornography files uploaded by a Kik Messenger app account first using a VPN, then switching to a home internet IP address located at Richards' address.
Records from Kik Messenger obtained via a search warrant revealed the Kik account had been involved in the trading of child pornography files, according to court documents.
Additional investigation indicated a VPN IP address used to access Richards' personal email account was later used to share child pornography.
Richards has since been released from the Marion County jail.
He paid his $4,000 bond by Aug. 22, but the judge said he couldn't be released until police had confiscated his guns and passports.
According to court documents, five guns were recovered from Richards' home, along with three passports.
As a condition of his release, prosecutors wanted Richards to wear a GPS monitor and stay in Marion County. The judge denied the GPS monitoring request, while granting the request that Richards must stay in the county.
Richards' jury trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 21.
Former Officer Myron Howard
Former IMPD Officer Myron Howard is accused of raping a domestic violence victim he had responded to help.
Howard, who was assigned to North District, has since been terminated by the department. He is formally charged with rape, criminal confinement, official misconduct and other misdemeanors.
At a hearing April 4, a judge placed Howard on a $100,000 bond. If he posts bond, Howard will be on GPS monitoring and cannot have firearms.
According to police, Howard was called with other officers to a home on Olney Street, near East 25th Street and North Sherman Drive, on Jan. 6 for a domestic violence call. A man was taken into custody during that incident.
Howard then allegedly returned to the scene after other officers left. According to court documents, Howard allegedly told the female victim, "you know you could've went to jail too, but I didn't say anything, so I need you to do something for me."
Howard turned his body-worn camera off during the incident, according to the court documents. Police said they verified this because the device was missing nearly 20 minutes of GPS data during the alleged incident. His patrol car GPS showed he had returned to the woman's home after the domestic violence call and was there for approximately 17 minutes.
"I felt obliged to do what he tells me,” the alleged victim told police.
She said her boyfriend was arrested again in February for domestic violence and that Howard came to her home after other officers left. That time, she said she told him to leave her alone and didn't open the door to her home.
When questioned, Howard claims he was doing patrols in the area after the domestic violence call and the woman waved him down and the sex was consensual. He claimed he didn't talk to her after that. The woman submitted screenshots from her home of text messages Howard allegedly sent her and a call he made.
In a separate incident in August 2023, another woman said Howard was helping her after a car crash. She said he then came back and offered her a ride home. She said he told her that she needed to buy him gas or have sex with him. She said she offered gas money, but he told her it needed to be sex. She said the two had sex and then he drove her home.
Howard's jury trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 28.
IMPD Officer Paul Humphrey
IMPD Officer Paul Humphrey, who has been with the department for 24 years and was most recently assigned to East District, is facing charges of sexual misconduct with a minor and child seduction.
According to court documents, an official at an Indianapolis high school made a complaint to the Indiana Department of Child Services on Jan. 11 about a student who had been inappropriately touched by an adult.
The following day, IMPD detectives started an investigation into a sexual relationship between one of its officers, later identified as Humphrey, and a minor.
The victim, who was a senior in high school in January 2024, told detectives she has known Humphrey since she was in second grade.
According to court documents, the victim told police she and Humphrey had sex approximately 15 times while she was a sophomore in high school and 15 years old.
Court documents say the victim told detectives the sexual relationship started when Humphrey first told her he wanted to teach her self-defense, so he would act like someone who would try to take her clothes off and she would have to fight him.
The victim told detectives the sexual relationship ended near the end of her sophomore year when she stood up to Humphrey and said, "This isn't what people like you are supposed to do. This is what people like you are supposed to protect people from."
According to court documents, the victim said she felt pressured to have sex with Humphrey because he was a father figure to her, as well as a police officer.
The victim told detectives Humphrey was able to track her location at all times through an app on her cellphone.
On Jan. 18, court documents say police received a report that Humphrey was going to kill himself at his business that was separate from his work as an IMPD officer. Police arrived and found Humphrey in a room with two gas-powered generators running, making it hard to breathe with the carbon monoxide coming from the generators.
Court documents say police performed CPR on Humphrey until medics arrived and transported him to St. Francis Hospital.
Humphrey's jury trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 7.
'It erodes police legitimacy'
Dr. Philip Stinson is a criminologist and professor of criminal justice at Bowling Green State University. He specializes in police who commit crimes nationwide, both on and off duty.
"My research indicates that several thousand officers have been arrested for sex crimes since 2005," said Stinson, "including 1,200 officers who have been arrested for sexual abuse of children.”
He said each time it happens, it puts a black eye on the respective department.
"It erodes police legitimacy," said Stinson. "People need to have faith in their police departments. They need to respect their police officers, and when we see a large number of these instances in a short period of time, it’s troubling.”
Stinson said, too often, bad actions come from a culture within the department that can take effort to reverse.
"They need to have a strong, robust early intervention systems where they track problematic officers’ behaviors," said Stinson. "They need to be upfront. They need to be honest, and they need to recognize that they’ve got a problem, and that they’re dealing with the problem.”