No charges for former Utah campus cop who showed off explicit photos of murdered Pullman track star

October 16, 2020 7:50 PM

Connor Sarles,

Posted: October 16, 2020 7:50 PM

by Connor Sarles

SALT LAKE CITY — A former campus officer at the University of Utah will not face charges for showing off explicit photos of Lauren McCluskey to his co-workers shortly before her murder in 2018.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports that the District Attorney’s Office opted to not prosecute Miguel Deras, the former officer.

While they describe his actions as “definitely reckless,” they note there is no Utah law that addresses this type of police misconduct.

McCluskey, a Pullman native and senior track athlete at Utah, went to campus police after being blackmailed by someone, later confirmed to be her ex-boyfriend Melvin Rowland, who was threatening to release explicit photos of her unless she paid him $1,000. She paid the money, and provided the images and texts to campus police for evidence.

Deras was assigned to the case, and reportedly saved those images onto his personal phone, and even bragged to another coworker about getting to look at them whenever he wanted.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports that the decision to not prosecute was made as the statute of limitations expired for Deras’ misdemeanor charges of abusing evidence.