Police investigating whether upstate N.Y. cops hosted underage “breeding” parties
Probe launched after sergeant's boyfriend was arrested trying to use counterfeit checks to buy a sports car
The arrest of a Schenectady police sergeant’s boyfriend has reportedly launched a multi-agency investigation into allegations that gay cops in upstate New York may have hosted or taken part in “breeding parties” that were allegedly attended by teenagers who were not of legal age to drink alcohol or consent to having sex with adults.
The investigation was triggered after Anthony Aubin, the live-in boyfriend of Sgt. Jonathan Moore, was arrested last month at an Albany-area car dealership for trying to use a fraudulent check for $92,000 to purchase an expensive sports car, The Albany Times Union reports.
A further investigation into Aubin and Moore’s financial dealings — including their work with a gay adult film company, which they finger as responsible for the fraudulent check — prompted a wider-reaching investigation into the claims over whether officers from various department had been involved in the breeding parties, where participants typically engage in unprotected sex.
Aubin has been charged with two felony counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument for writing fraudulent checks, one to purchase a Jaguar coupe, and another to purchase a Jeep Grand Cherokee, which he subsequently traded in for cash to put towards the purchase of the Jaguar. He is currently being held without bail at Albany County jail.
Schenectady Police Chief Eric Clifford told reporters during a press conference Wednesday that the department learned on Oct. 14 that Moore had been present at the time Aubin attempted to purchase the sports car at the auto dealership. Moore has since been suspended with pay pending a decision to bring charges against him, reports The New York Post. He claims he had no idea that the checks were fraudulent, as he and Aubin had been expecting to receive nearly $400,000 for their work with the out-of-state adult film company.
Police later interviewed Aubin on Oct. 26, and there was “no mention” of any sex parties or allegations of underage drinking, Clifford says. He refused to elaborate further on those allegations. When asked whether other officers may have been involved, Clifford responded: “That’s a part of our internal investigation that I’m not willing to comment about right now.”
Clifford did, however, take issue with the Times Union story that first raised the sex party allegations, claiming he wasn’t contacted before it ran.
According to the Times Union, the Albany Police Department’s internal affairs unit is also looking into allegations that one of its officers is connected to the investigation into the breeding parties. Albany Police Chief Brendan Cox refused to comment on the matter, saying only that the department is “not in a position to even gauge whether or not there is any truth to what has been alleged.”
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