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Virginia Beach officer accused of sending sexually harassing texts to women he arrested, sources say

Posted at 9:13 PM, Aug 20, 2015
and last updated 2015-08-21 06:26:37-04

Virginia Beach, Va. - Court records show Officer Christopher Skinner was one of Virginia Beach's most productive cops. He won an award for his relentless pursuit of drunk drivers. But he was under investigation for what was happening after some of those arrests.

Multiple legal and law-enforcement sources say Skinner was communicating with women he had arrested, and sometimes those communications turned sexual. Sources with direct knowledge of the investigation said some of the women who had received the texts said they were “inappropriate, sexually harassing and persistent.”

Court records show Skinner was one of the city's most productive officers, filling pages of court dockets with traffic cases, including dozens of DUIs. Last year, he won an award for arresting 79 suspected drunk drivers. Because of his sudden resignation, 20 of his DUI cases have already been dropped and 40 more could be.

Sources are telling NewsChannel 3 that Skinner's superiors confronted him with the messages he had sent to some of the women he arrested. Sources also say he was summoned to Internal Affairs, but immediately resigned instead.

Prosecutors said they are examining Skinner's cases to see if any can go forward, but conceded that without him, it would be almost impossible.

Related: Officer’s sudden resignation jeopardizes 60 drunk-driving cases