K.E. Van Althius Bio, Wiki

K.E. Van Althius is a Raleigh Police officer who is being accused of sexual assault by a 26-year-old woman’s attorney, Karen Griffin. The woman said after being arrested at a gas station on September 25th, and charged with driving while intoxicated, the police her touched her inappropriately which constitutes to sexual assault, something the officer has denied.

K.E. Van Althius Body Camera Footage

A Body camera footage was released by Griffin shows Officer K.E. Van Althius unzipping the driver’s jacket, touching her breasts and apparently shaking them, before moving to her shorts. Althius asks the woman to turn around and spread her legs, then runs his hand between them.

“The officer touched my client in every way that a normal person, especially a woman, would not want to be touched by a man,” Griffin said WRAL-TV.

The driver was found to have a blood alcohol content of .15, according to police, which is nearly double the legal limit under North Carolina law.

While the woman’s identity has not been revealed, Griffin, who received the body camera footage from the district attorney’s office as part of the evidence in the case, said she’s never seen a more invasive search.

K.E. Van Althius Remains On Duty

As of November 6th, the police officer who performed the body search in question is still working with the department, however, the question as to whether he performed a routine body search or crossed the line has yet to be determined.

K.E. Van Althius Police Chief Statement

Raleigh Police Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown supported the move to release the body camera footage and defended Althius during a press conference on Wednesday, Nov. 6th.

The police chief called Griffin’s claims “egregious, erroneous and unprofessional.” She said Althius conducted a completely valid search and did what he was trained to do.

“That officer was absolutely professional in everything that he did,” Deck-Brown said. “He didn’t deserve that allegation, and I needed to speak out on his behalf.”

The chief claimed the attorney’s comments undermined the experience of sexual assault victims as well as undermining the safety of officers who need to search suspects for their own security. Deck-Brown also said that she was requesting the full video be released.

“Because I think you will also see what I saw,” Deck-Brown said. “And that is that officer was absolutely professional in everything he did. He treated that person with dignity and respect.”

Deck-Brown added that officers can pat down suspects of the opposite sex outside of strip searches. The driver probably could have requested another officer, but the DWI arrest required timeliness, she said.

Wake County District Attorney Statement

The Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman on his part said he didn’t see Althius’ actions as a crime. “Searches are invasive by their nature, in order to make sure the officer is protected,” Freeman said, mentioning that the woman could’ve been carrying a small weapon, like a needle or razor blade.

“Is this something we would like to see done or have done to us?” Freeman continued. “No. Is it something that is illegal in the context of conducting a search to an arrest? It does not appear to be at this point. Our role in this situation is to try and make a determination whether there’s been any criminal violation. Looking at it preliminarily at this point, we don’t see that.”