PARKER, Colo. — A Douglas County man is furious with Parker Police after his name and mug shot was released Wednesday July 1 as one of nine men charged in an Internet child sex crime sting.
Kody Green’s charge of Soliciting for Child Prostitution was dismissed by the Douglas County District Attorney’s office on June 25. The 28-year-old says having his face on TV news and his name in the newspaper has been humiliating and he’s still waiting for an apology. “It feels horrible,” said Kody Green in an exclusive interview with Fox 31 Denver.
When Green was arrested in April, he said his public defender assumed the worst. “She said that I was going to have to register as a sex offender and take a plea deal.”
Green said prosecutors dropped the case after he said he provided evidence, including Internet screen shots, to prove he thought he was communicating with a 24-year-old online, not a 16-year-old as detectives suggested. “Four days prior to the incident, I talked to the 24-year-old directly over the Internet and through a profile that you have to be 18 just to sign up for.”
Parker Police put out a press release Thursday afternoon stating, “In light of new information from the District Attorney’s Office, the criminal charges against Kody Green have been dismissed and the Parker Police Department is not pursuing further prosecution at this time. Due to this development we respectfully request that you remove Kody’s name, photograph and information from any existing and further news feeds.”
But Kody Green complained the press release did not offer what he really wants, “A public apology to clear my name.”
The Douglas County District Attorney’s office told FOX31 it told Parker detectives that it was dismissing the case on June 26, five days before Parker Police released Green’s name.
On Friday afternoon, Parker Police sent FOX31 a new email stating, “It was the intent of the Parker Police Department to file charges on him at a later date. We then learned yesterday late afternoon in a meeting with the DA in Castle Rock that they had come to the conclusion that they would not continue with the case in any fashion. It was shortly afterwards that out of courtesy we removed Mr. Green’s arrest info from the press release. There was nothing contained in the original press release that was inaccurate. Our agency is also conducting an internal review of our processes when it comes to these issues.”