A former Columbus police officer, Nicholas P. Duty, has pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of destroying or altering records during a criminal investigation. Duty, 35, admitted to two counts of the crime and faces a sentencing recommendation of 18 to 48 months in prison.
Court documents reveal that Duty deactivated or removed his police body-worn camera on two occasions to obstruct a federal investigation. The incidents occurred on October 31, 2023, and March 22, 2024, during interactions with women while he was on duty.
In February 2024, concerns about Duty's conduct arose during street-level prostitution operations in Columbus. A witness identified him through a blind photo array. Further investigations confirmed that Duty had disabled his cameras during encounters with women, including one involving a sexual encounter.
On Halloween 2023, Duty responded to a call from a woman whose boyfriend was attempting suicide. He transported her but turned off his cameras and later contacted her again before his arrest in April 2024.
The second incident involved an interaction near Sullivant and Clarendon avenues on March 22, 2024. Audio recordings captured Duty asking for sex from the woman after disabling his camera's video function. Although she declined intercourse, she performed oral sex on him for $20.
Duty was indicted by a federal grand jury in April 2024 and had been with the Columbus Division of Police since June 2018.
The plea was announced by United States Attorney Kenneth L. Parker along with Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and other law enforcement officials before U.S. Magistrate Judge Norah McCann King. Assistant United States Attorneys Emily Czerniejewski and Kevin W. Kelley are prosecuting the case with investigations led by the Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission’s Central Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force.