Missouri – A former Missouri police officer has admitted to a pattern of abuse that prosecutors say involved 18 men, most of them handcuffed and many taken away from public view after routine traffic stops or arrests.
The case against Marcellis Blackwell, 36, of St. Louis, spans just seven months, but federal prosecutors described repeated encounters in which police authority was used to isolate detainees, disable body-camera recording and commit sexual assaults.
Blackwell pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to 18 counts of deprivation of rights under color of law. Each count involved abusive sexual contact, while 15 also involved the kidnapping of victims.
According to the plea agreement, the assaults occurred between Nov. 8, 2022, and June 5, 2023, while Blackwell worked for the North County Police Cooperative.
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The encounters commonly began with traffic stops or arrests. In one incident, Blackwell detained two men following a traffic accident. He groped one of them while the man was in the back seat of his police vehicle, then took the second man to a remote location.
Sixteen of the 18 victims were handcuffed during the assaults. Fifteen were transported to isolated locations, including a high school and the rear parking lot of Blackwell’s own police department.
Before taking some victims to those locations, Blackwell deactivated his body-worn camera. Prosecutors said he later falsified reports on 13 occasions by claiming the camera had remained active throughout his interactions with the detainees.
The investigation began after a victim contacted the North County Police Cooperative on June 4, 2023, reporting an encounter from the previous day. Additional victims later came forward, and the FBI ultimately took over the investigation.
Blackwell is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 24. The U.S. Attorney’s Office plans to ask the court to impose a 30-year prison sentence.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christine Krug and Jennifer Szczucinski are prosecuting the federal case.
