A District of Columbia police officer will remain behind bars on charges of running a prostitution operation from his apartment.
Superior Court Magistrate Judge Frederick Sullivan rejected a defense lawyer's request on Wednesday to release Linwood Barnhill Jr., who was arrested last week after police found a missing 16-year-old girl inside his apartment.
The judge said he believed Barnhill represented a flight risk given the seriousness of the charges he faces.
At a hearing Wednesday, an internal affairs detective testified that Barnhill waited hours to turn himself in and was drunk when he surrendered. The detective also said that the department received a tip in 2011 that Barnhill was smoking marijuana and using his apartment for prostitution purposes.
During a search of Barnhill's apartment, investigators found 100 to 200 condoms, an officer with the department's Juvenile Protection Division testified. The officer said the large amount of condoms was in line with something that would be found in a brothel.
The 16-year-old girl found inside Barnhill's apartment told authorities that Barnhill had approached her at a shopping mall about two weeks earlier and asked if she wanted to be a model. She visited his apartment several times after that, and at one point, Barnhill gave her a cellphone and told the girl he had made a "date" for her with another man to engage in sex acts, according to charging documents.
A second alleged victim, a 15-year-old girl, has also come forward, claiming that she met Barnhill at a bus stop in September. She told police that she lied about her age, before admitting that she was 15 after Barnhill asked her to "escort" for him.
"The defendant informed [the girl] that he plans bachelor parties and has 'tons' of girls. [The girl] stated the defendant told her that her young age was not a problem because he had other minors who worked for him," the charging documents state.
Barnhill took nude and clothed photos of the girl and then arranged for her to have sex with a man in his 40s or 50s in Barnhill's bedroom, the documents say. Barnhill allegedly provided condoms for the encounter.
The 15-year-old girl performed the sex acts and then told Barnhill she was not interested in continuing to work for him, according to authorities.
A mirror in Barnhill's apartment displayed the names of other women whom the 16-year-old girl said were prostitutes, police said. Authorities say they know of at least six other females allegedly pimped by Barnhill. The ages of these girls or women are unknown at this point, News4 Mark Segraves reported.
Barnhill joined the D.C. police department in 1989. Barnhill, who has been with D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department for 24 years, had been on light duty since September 2012. It was revealed during Wednesday's hearing that Barnhill had accidentally shot himself. He later received a reprimand for using a holster that was not approved.
He is now on administrative leave. If convicted, Barnhill could face up to 20 years in prison.
Another police officer, Marc Washington, was arrested last week on child pornography charges. His body was pulled Tuesday night from the Washington Channel. Police haven't released any further details into his death.
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A third officer is also under investigation for possibly tipping Washington off about his forthcoming arrest earlier this week, sources said.
All three officers work in MPD's Seventh District, law enforcement sources said.
