RUSH COUNTY – A former Rushville police officer has been arrested after state police say he had an inappropriate relationship with a teenage girl.
State police said the investigation started in August 2012 after the Rushville City Police Department contacted them about allegations against the officer, 28-year-old Cale Worley.
Worley was arrested late Friday on a warrant for felony official misconduct (class D felony) and contributing to the delinquency of a minor (class A misdemeanor). According to court documents, Worley sent the 15-year-old girl messages on Facebook and via texts.
The former DARE officer for the department, Worley worked in Rushville Community Schools, where he first encountered the 15-year-old girl. Police said he met with her after hours and communicated with her electronically. Worley resigned from his position in August when the original investigation began.
The case was turned over to prosecutors in November.
According to court documents, the girl’s uncle originally reported his concerns about interaction with Worley. The girl’s father also said he knew his daughter had exchanged text messages with the officer.
The girl’s father said he saw Worley’s patrol car “parked behind the old Whitefelt building” one night and then discovered “that his daughter was not there as she should have been,” court documents said. When his daughter returned, she admitted that she had been with him.
The girl said she first texted Worley after getting in trouble for an earlier incident. She said she would “Facebook message and text message with Worley and that Worley had given her his cell phone number.” They met behind the Junior High School and she “also drove around in Worley’s patrol car,” court documents said.
The teen said she talked to Worley about her “sex life” and other topics. On March 28, 2012, she said Worley picked her up in his squad car between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. The girl was on juvenile probation at the time, and being away from home without permission and past curfew are both juvenile delinquency offenses. “Worley was on duty and in full police uniform that night,” according to court documents.
Worley didn’t report his meetings with the girl, even though officers are required by department rules to log any meetings with juveniles after curfew. Rushville police also said Worley had a key to the loading dock at the school.
The girl said their relationship ended after the March 28 meeting.
