Cops sued over theft of kid-porn evidence

TACOMA, Wash., Aug. 13 (UPI) -- A lawsuit accuses a former Tacoma, Wash., police officer of pinching child pornography videos from the evidence room rather than destroying them.

The suit was filed earlier this month by an unidentified woman who was in one of the tapes that ex-officer Lee Giles allegedly helped himself to when he was a Tacoma detective, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer said Wednesday.

Giles was later sentenced to 19 years in prison for child molestation and other sex crimes.

The newspaper said the suit alleged that the police department enabled officers to take child porn evidence home with them. However, it did not specify any individuals other than Giles.

The City of Tacoma and Pierce County are also named in the suit, the newspaper said.