A high-ranking D.C. Metropolitan Police officer is behind bars after a Maryland sting operation caught him allegedly trying to hook up with a child.
Lt. Matthew Mahl, a 23-year veteran of the force and the former head of the police union, was ordered held without bond Wednesday following his arrest in Harford County.
The details are nothing short of a "predator" nightmare.
According to court documents, Mahl struck up a conversation on Reddit with who he believed was a 15-year-old boy.
For weeks, the lieutenant allegedly sent sexually explicit texts and photos, even boasting about his high-level job working on presidential escorts.
In a shocking display of arrogance, Mahl reportedly sent pictures of himself in his full police uniform and explicit photos taken inside his official police office.
Mahl wasn't oblivious to the stakes; he allegedly texted the "boy" that he could "lose everything" if they were caught.
He was right. When he showed up for the planned meeting after school this week, he wasn't met by a teenager, he was swarmed by Harford County Sheriff’s deputies who had been running the undercover operation.
Mayor Muriel Bowser and the MPD have distanced themselves immediately, with the Mayor stating, “We don’t want anybody like that on our force.”
Mahl, who made history a decade ago as the first openly gay chairman of the D.C. police union, now faces charges of solicitation of sex from a minor and solicitation of child pornography.
He is currently being held at the Harford County Detention Center awaiting a preliminary hearing next month.