Kaua'i police chief under investigation
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser KauaÎi Bureau
LIHU'E, Kaua'i — Police Chief George Freitas, who guided the Kaua'i Police Department through a complex sex scandal when he arrived on the job six years ago, has been placed on paid leave while allegations of his own misconduct are investigated.
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The Kaua'i Police Commission, at a meeting Friday, ordered Freitas to stop day-to-day management of the department for four months while the investigation is conducted.
No details of the allegations against Kaua'i Police Chief George Freitas have been released.
No details of the allegations against Freitas have been released.
Freitas did not return telephone calls yesterday. Mayor Maryanne Kusaka has not commented on the case. She met with top police officials at the Lihu'e police headquarters yesterday "to show support," one staffer said.
With Freitas on leave, Deputy Police Chief Wilfred Ihu, 60, will serve as acting chief. Freitas, 57, was hired as Kaua'i chief in 1995, leaving his job as captain and assistant to the chief in the Richmond, Calif., police department. He was one of 15 candidates for the job.
At the time of his swearing in, the department was embroiled in scandal. An exotic dancer had accused several officers of fondling and photographing her in suggestive poses while she was in their custody. The woman, Monica Alves Peralto, had been arrested for prostitution in a police sting operation involving Fanta-See EXpress, a company that provided exotic dancers for hire.
Freitas launched criminal and internal investigations in the case. Two of the five officers under scrutiny quit the department, and three more were fired after the investigation. One was later reinstated.
County prosecutors dismissed charges against the Fanta-See dancers, but obtained a conviction against company owner Carl Richie for promoting prostitution and racketeering.
Peralto won a $250,000 settlement from the county. She and her husband were later convicted in the 1997 murder of her cousin, Kimberly Washington-Cohen, and both are serving life sentences.
