DISGRACEFUL

University of Utah Officer Bragged About Photos of Murdered Student: Report

“The people who were supposed to be helping and protecting Lauren were actually exploiting her,” Lauren McCluskey’s mother said.

A University of Utah police officer kept explicit photos of track athlete Lauren McCluskey and boasted about them to another cop before she was murdered by a sex offender using the pictures to extort her, The Salt Lake Tribune reports. McCluskey, 21, had reportedly provided one of the officers assigned to the case, Miguel Deras, copies of her messages along with the photos as evidence of the blackmail plot. He allegedly told a fellow officer he could look at them whenever he wanted. McCluskey had dated Melvin Rowland, who lied to her about his real name, age, and criminal history before he murdered her, according to her parents. “The people who were supposed to be helping and protecting Lauren were actually exploiting her,” said McCluskey’s mother, Jill McCluskey.