2 NYPD Officers Fired Over 'Sexual Misconduct' With Underage Teen

NEW YORK CITY — Two NYPD officers are off the force after investigators found they committed "shocking professional and sexual misconduct" with an underage girl.

A blistering 41-page ruling released this week details a case against officers Yaser Shohatee and Sanad Musallam, who stood accused of misconduct with a teen enrolled in the department's Explorer outreach program for youths.

Both officers engaged in sexual activity while she was legally incapable of consent, assistant deputy commissioner of trials Paul Gamble found.

"Both Respondents have been found guilty of shocking professional and sexual misconduct," the decision from March states. "They abused the trust reposed in them by this Department and violated their oaths of office. It bears stating in explicit terms that The Minor was victimized by two uniformed Members of Service assigned to the same precinct. The evidence supports a finding that Respondents individually targeted The Minor as a particularly vulnerable individual they were morally obliged to protect but chose to take advantage of to satisfy their depraved interests."

But while the NYPD disciplinary trial cost Shohatee and Musallam their jobs, they avoided prosecution after the girl refused to cooperate with Brooklyn prosecutors, the New York Daily News reported.

A spokesperson told the Daily News — which first reported on the disciplinary report — that prosecutors still forwarded their findings to Internal Affairs and helped the case against the officers.

The disciplinary report details numerous text messages, calls and photographs exchanged between the girl and Shohatee and Musallam.

In one instance, Musallam kept a photograph of the girl clad in her underwear, according to the report. The trial judge found Musallam's reasons for keeping the photograph and not reporting it unconvincing.

"Even viewed in its most benign light, the photograph would cause any competent investigator to question why Respondent Musallam had a picture of a scantily clad minor in his possession," the judge wrote. "Whether he retained the image as a trophy of his illicit relationship with The Minor or as a cudgel against her credibility, there is no reasonable explanation for his continued possession of the photograph that is consistent with innocence."

The judge also found both Musallam and Shohatee had sexual contact with the girl before she turned 17 and could legally consent.

They also betrayed the trust of a minor engaged in the Explorer program, which is meant to provide structured activity for young people whose personal lives lack safe, enriching experiences, the report states.

"A police officer who enters into a sexualized relationship with a member of the Explorer program, whether legally capable of consent to such a relationship, does great violence to the trust the leadership of this Department and the citizens of this city, repose in them," the report states. "When that Explorer is underage, the damage to public trust is incalculable to the Explorers or any minors in the community they serve."

An attorney for Musallam told the Daily News his client didn't have an inappropriate relationship with the girl and called the judge's decision a "political ruling."

The NYPD trial decision, and others, can be found here.