By Mensah M. Dean (Philly Daily News)
Sixteen months ago, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office said ex-cop Richard DeCoatsworth was a pimp who terrorized the two women who worked as his prostitutes.
City prosecutors painted such an ominous picture of the once-hero cop that a judge ordered him held for trial on more than 30 charges. Bail was initially set at a staggering $60 million and later revoked altogether.
Yesterday, DeCoatsworth, 28, after being locked up for 16 months, was released on his own recognizance by Common Pleas Judge Charles Ehrlich. The District Attorney’s Office dropped all charges related to the “prostitutes” – Taisha Viera and Samantha Velazquez.
A Daily News call to James Carpenter, chief of the D.A.’s Family Violence and Sexual Assault Unit, was not returned.
His office released a one-paragraph statement: “After an intense follow-up investigation by the District Attorney’s Office, it was determined there was not enough evidence to proceed to trial with the trafficking and sex-crime charges against this defendant.”
Read the full story: Ex-hero cop free after D.A. drops rape and sex-trafficking charges.
The Philly Declaration 
