A former Columbus police officer has been handed a 36-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to the destruction and alteration of records during criminal investigations. Nicholas P. Duty was convicted in federal court for his actions, which included deactivating or removing his body-worn camera to obstruct federal probes into his conduct.
Details emerged revealing how Duty's actions were not isolated incidents, but part of a broader pattern of behavior. According to court documents, on two separate occasions, Duty purposefully disabled his camera equipment to avoid recording interactions with women, including during a sexual encounter on one occasion. In a turn of events, one of the women reached out to Columbus authorities with concerns regarding Duty's on-duty activities—specifically, his engagements with sex workers. This eventually led to Duty being positively identified during the administration of a blind photo array, as reported by the U.S. Department of Justice.
The investigation found that Duty had similar interactions while on duty, using his official position to initiate sexual exchanges with various women, including crime victims whom he encountered through his police work. He used police-issued digital devices to reach out to these women and sex workers, meet them in his police car, engage in sex acts, and then compensate them for such activities. These revelations highlight a stark abuse of power by a once-sworn protector of the community.
When handing down the sentence, Chief U.S. District Judge Sarah D. Morrison closed a chapter on a case that involved multiple agencies, including the Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission’s Central Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force. Duty had been a member of the Columbus Division of Police since June 2018 before his indictment by a federal grand jury in April 2024, which stemmed from the collaborative efforts of Acting United States Attorney Kelly A. Norris, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, along with notable figures from ATF, ICE, and the FBI.
Assistant United States Attorneys Emily Czerniejewski and Kevin W. Kelley represented the United States, with the case serving as a sober reminder of the importance of policing the police. This endeavor remains as critical as it is complex in the pursuit of justice and the protection of civil liberties.
