A Colorado police chief was placed on administrative leave after his stepson and three men were accused of raping a 17-year-old girl in his home while he slept upstairs.
The City of Ouray announced Monday that Police Chief Jeff Wood would remain on leave “pending the outcome of the criminal proceedings into the alleged rape” during a May 2023 party that the stepson hosted at Wood’s home.
The city did not clarify the exact reason Wood was asked to resign, but the move comes more than a week after a man tried unsuccessfully to stifle a local newspaper’s reporting of the alleged crime by stealing stacks of papers. from their shelves, rather than amplifying the story to the attention of the entire country.
The city had previously stated that it had been monitoring the case and Wood’s family ties to it since Wood first became aware of the investigation in July 2023.
Wood did not immediately respond to the Post’s request for comment.
His stepson, Nate Dieffenderffer, 18, was arrested in December along with Gabriel Trujillo, 20, and Ashton Whittington, 18, on felony sexual assault charges, a case being handled by the Bureau of Investigation. Colorado.
Dieffenderffer is accused of starting a night-long gang rape horror after a 17-year-old guest at a party he was hosting at Wood’s home passed out from intoxication.
The alleged rape took place at Police Chief Jeff Wood’s home during a party hosted by his stepson. Ouray County city
The police chief’s stepson grabbed her when she tried to fight back and scream before he and Trujillo dragged her into the bathroom and took turns violently abusing her, according to an arrest affidavit.
Whittington allegedly did not participate but did not intervene.
The next morning, the survivor woke up naked and grabbed a sweatshirt from a pile of dirty clothes, which turned out to be Wood’s. His DNA turned up in a later investigation, but not in a significant amount that would reflect irregularities.
Accused rapist Nathan Dieffenderffer, then 17, is Wood’s stepson. Colorado Bureau of Investigation
According to the victim, the police chief was home the entire time, but slept during the hours that the torture lasted.
Wood told The Post last week that he “first learned about [the rape allegations] approximately two months after the incident allegedly occurred.”
“I anticipate that I will be called as a witness at trial, so I believe it is not appropriate to comment on the plausibility of the young woman’s allegations at this time,” Wood said in an email statement.
Hundreds of newspapers were stolen the morning the Ouray County Plaindealer published a front-page story about the rape allegations. Plain Ouray County Dealer
The charges became widely known when a local restaurant owner stole hundreds of copies of the Ouray County Plaindealer on Jan. 18, the morning he published a front-page story about the horrific allegations.
Paul Choate, 41, accused Plaindealer of trying to profit from the story and claimed on social media that he carried out the heist to protect the victim.
Surprisingly, Choate does not appear to have any ties to the police department, Wood, his stepson or the three other men named in the criminal case.
The disturbing case had sparked intense calls from the community for Wood to resign.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn