Last week, a former Mooresville police officer was sentenced to nine years of probation for three felony counts of indecent liberties with a child. On Monday, the Mooresville police chief called the plea deal outrageous.
In a press conference Monday, the Mooresville Police Department and town of Mooresville expressed frustration with the plea deal struck by a special prosecutor on the case. Matthew Edward Beebe, 38, of Sherrills Ford, pleaded guilty on Sept. 24 to charges that stemmed from both Catawba and Iredell counties.Â
"This is the most outrageous prosecution I have witnessed in my almost four decades in this profession,"Â Mooresville Police Chief Ron Campurciani said. "This man committed despicable acts on a minor. At the same time, this predator continued to lead his double life and put on his public face to serve as a police officer with the town of Mooresville."
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Beebe was originally facing two felony counts of indecent liberties with a child and two felony counts of statutory sex offense with a child in Iredell County. He was also charged with felony statutory sex offense with a child by an adult, felony sex act by a substitute parent or guardian and felony indecent liberties with a child in Catawba County. The accusations involved a 12-year-old child.
The remaining charges were dismissed with prejudice through the plea agreement. That means the remaining charges cannot be brought against Beebe again in the future.
Campurciani said that the MPD had been in contact with Special Prosecutor Donna Rainwater and expected Beebe to serve time in jail. He said the department received an email the day before the plea deal from Rainwater that Beebe wouldn't serve any time in prison. Campurciani dismissed any suggestion that the police department in Mooresville or law enforcement in Catawba County had taken any actions to diminish the special prosecutor's case.
Beebe was fired from the Mooresville Police Department in August of 2023 and arrested initially on four counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor due to child pornography found on his personal phone, Campurciani said in 2023. He had been with the department for 11 years.Â
The police chief said the victim wasn't happy with the decision either. He said the decision undermines public trust in the police and justice system.
"The men and women that make up the Mooresville Police Department work so hard every day to serve this community," Campurciani said. "They are very much aware that there is a distrust of the police. That is why we treat everyone fairly with dignity and respect. We hold our officers accountable if they do not treat everyone with those same values. The ones that don’t buy into this philosophy learn very early on that there is no safe place for them to land at the MPD. A decision like this widens the gap of distrust for the police and the whole criminal justice system."
Mayor Chris Carney and several members of the town board of commissioners were at the press conference and expressed displeasure with the plea deal.
"You're talking about predators of children, and you can't even get them jail time? How are you willing to look any citizen in the face and say this is how our justice system works?" Carney said.
He said the police department expected maximum sentences for Beebe.Â
"We're furious about this. And we should be furious about this. Every parent should be furious about this," Carney said. "And we should be demanding justice."
Beebe is required to register as a sex offender for 30 years as part of the plea. Beebe was forced to permanently surrender his law enforcement certification. Beebe is also not allowed to have any form of contact with the victim. Beebe is required to complete a sex offender evaluation and treatment, Catawba County Superior Court Judge Gregory Hayes said.
What did Beebe do?
The crimes happened between July 2018 and August 2019, Rainwater said on Sept. 24.
Beebe was in a relationship with the victim's mother during the time the offenses happened. He was 32 at the time and the victim was 12 when the abuse began. Beebe lived in Catawba County and the victim and her mother lived in Iredell. Beebe committed the crimes in both locations, Rainwater said.
The victim told her mother that Beebe had kissed her and touched her breasts in 2019. When confronted, Beebe said he was drunk and kissed the victim. The mother and Beebe stopped seeing each other for a time, but would later continue the relationship.
The victim discussed the crimes with a therapist in 2021 after her mother and Beebe started seeing each other again. In July of 2023, she told her mother that Beebe had touched the inside and outside of her vagina. She later come forward to the police. The victim told police that there were multiple occasions when Beebe had touched her, Rainwater said.Â
According to the Mooresville Police Department, the victim made a report about sexual misconduct on July 28, 2023. Beebe was placed on paid administrative leave within an hour of the report, Campurciani said in 2023.