In the past year, VCU has not exactly been a stranger to scandal-and now that VCU Police Chief William “Willie” B. Fuller has been charged for soliciting sex from a minor online, we have another mess. Complete with a screen name that nobody actually would believe someone would use, but really exists – “Hotcop2006”.
While this certainly was surprising to everybody-in some way, shouldn’t we have expected something like this to happen? Really, just when VCU thought it was smooth sailing, this blows up in our face.
So far, VCU’s track record includes, the odd “arrangement” between university President Eugene P. Trani and tobacco company Philip Morris, awarding former Richmond Police Chief Rodney Monroe a bachelor’s degree when degree requirements were not met and 17-year-old Taylor Behl going missing and being found dead shortly thereafter.
None of these situations did anything to help our glorious university’s reputation. Basically, VCU needs another controversy like the job market needs more layoffs.
At least this is a controversy made of solid gold. I’m talking 14 karats-or more. According to Deputy Commonwealth Attorney David Rigler, Fuller was arrested Wednesday and police say he believed he was messaging with a 14-year-old girl who actually turned out to be police officer. Fuller is charged with four felonies: two counts of using a computer to solicit sex from a minor and attempted indecent liberties with a minor.
Can we all just have a moment for the screen name “Hotcop2006”? If anything, that screen name must have been one of the biggest giveaways to police. It makes you wonder if the screen-name police were using was “ImaMinor14.” I mean, how obvious can you get?
An e-mail sent Thursday morning from President Trani stated VCU has placed Fuller on leave without pay. The e-mail was sent with a blank subject line which makes VCU appear like they are hoping this will go away soon and be kept well hidden.
This leaves us to ruminate on the fact that someone who is a cop didn’t realize that he was talking to . another cop. Really? How stupid can you be? Fuller is the VCU police chief-the “big cheese” if you will. Shouldn’t it be his job to understand that online child sexual exploitation is something that people take extremely seriously?
In fact, according to Rigler, it is the duty of law enforcement officials in Virginia to infiltrate online chat rooms where people might be soliciting minors. As chief of an entire police department, shouldn’t Fuller at least have realized that this whole thing might have “extremely bad idea” written all over it? “No solicitation of minors” is probably a pretty significant part of the job manual lying around the office, so if anything, Fuller’s actions should be added up to pure stupidity.
Obviously, Fuller was not keeping up with the NBC show, “To Catch a Predator,” because this situation is almost identical, with the exception of there being no actual meeting between Fuller and the police. Therefore, Fuller did not have the opportunity to try to postpone arrest by eating the cookies out on the counter.
While this situation is obviously very serious, and has hurt quite a few people, it is almost impossible not to make light of it because all the circumstances surrounding it are completely ridiculous. Nothing in Alanis Morissette’s “Ironic” song might actually be ironic, but the police chief of a university getting charged in a sex scandal? Now that’s pure irony.