By Alex Lloyd Gross
Former Philadelphia Detective Phillip Nordo is in protective custody in the Philadelphia Prison System, jailed without bond, stemming from charges that he raped and sexually harassed witnesses and criminals alike. Police said that Nordo was doing this for over a decade. He would volunteer to drive male victims from their interviews or other police business to their homes. During that ride, Nordo is alleged to have groomed the men with inappropriate questioning during those rides.
The case went to the grand jury who found that he “repeatedly contacted young men that he sought to groom,” and used threats and flattery to “make the targets of his advances more susceptible to his sexually assaultive and/or coercive behavior.” He would troll prison visitation rooms and find inmates that he could manipulate, police said. he would display his gun or handcuffs. At one point he would do favors for young men such as getting them reward money for information.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross called the allegations “sickening”. As Nordo was being investigated, cases that he was involved with were handled differently, with one suspect getting no additional jail time when he should have been imprisoned. The police union refused to represent Nordo, so he had to seek a private attorney, Michael van der Veen, who has a reputation as a sharp lawyer who will leave no stone unturned.
Just about every criminal sitting behind bars that Nordo had anything to do with is going to ask for an investigation into their case to have to tossed or to have a reduced sentence. Nordo was charged with Rape, Indecent Deviate Sexual Assault, Attempted Indecent Deviate Sexual Assault, Institutional Sexual Assault, Theft by Deception, Stalking, Indecent Assault, Securing Execution, and Official Oppression.