Officer Accused of Having Sex With Jail Inmate

A Manhattan Beach police detective was charged Friday with four felony counts stemming from allegations that he pressured a 23-year-old jail inmate for sex in exchange for legal assistance, authorities reported.

Neil Starkey, 30, an investigator for the Manhattan Beach Police Department for four years, faces felony counts of rape by threat of the authority of a public official, unlawful sexual intercourse, oral copulation in a jail facility and bribery (soliciting sex in return for a favor).

The alleged incidents took place in the Manhattan Beach Jail Sept. 17 after Starkey arrested Laura Diaz on charges of attempting to forge and cash a check, Deputy Dist. Atty. Herbert Lapin said.

According to complaints Diaz later made to police officials, Starkey took her to an interview room, told her she faced a long prison term and then said he could help her in exchange for sex. Diaz then allegedly agreed to have sex with him.

Starkey is also alleged to have had Diaz’s original bail of $1,000 raised to $10,000 and then persuaded the court to release her on her own recognizance, the district attorney’s office said.

Diaz first complained to Torrance police, who then contacted Manhattan Beach police, Lapin added. She admitted guilt to misdemeanor forgery charges and will be sentenced next month in South Bay Municipal Court in Torrance.

Starkey, a former law enforcement officer in England, was arrested Sept. 22 and is free on $20,000 bail pending arraignment next week in Los Angeles Municipal Court. Currently on leave from the department without pay, he faces a maximum prison term of eight years if convicted.