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MISHAWAKA, Ind. — REAL News Michiana is getting more details about the arrest of a South Bend Police Officer for Child Solicitation over the weekend. According to sources, SBPD Officer Rico Butler is accused of having sex with a teenage student at New Vision Christian Academy, a private Christian school operated by Butler’s parents.
The St. Joseph County Police Department arrested 27-year-old Butler on Saturday. It turns out, not only is Butler a police officer, he is also a basketball coach for the school and a popular drummer for the church in which the school is located. That church is called Power in Praise Crusade Ministries located on Logan Street near Bethel College in Mishawaka. Not only is Butler’s mother, Ivy Butler, the president of the school, she is also the lead pastor of the church.
According to charging documents, Butler began his sexual relationship with the 17-year-old student in 2023. Charging documents allege the student and Butler had sex in the child’s school, in his vehicle and at the child’s home when her mother was at work.
REAL News Michiana called the school and asked if Butler was still working there, at which point the woman on the phone asked who was calling. As soon as RNM’s reporter identified himself, the woman on the phone hung up.
Butler has only been a police officer for a little more than a year. He graduated from the Police Academy in late November of 2022. He joined the South Bend Police Department in December of 2022. Sources tell RNM, Butler was also working security at New Vision Christian Academy on a part-time basis.
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