Ex-Philadelphia police officer Patrick Heron faces new charges related to sex crimes while on duty

A former Philadelphia police officer already charged with sexually assaulting young girls after he retired is now facing 233 new charges related to sex crimes that allegedly occurred while he was still on the force, many while he was on-duty and some while in uniform, the District Attorney’s Office said Tuesday.

Patrick Heron, 53, who is in custody with his prior $2 million bail having been revoked, is now facing charges involving multiple victims from about 2005 to before 2019, the year he retired, said Lyandra Retacco, chief of the Special Investigations Unit of the District Attorney’s Office.

Retacco did not provide many details, but said the new charges involve 19 transcripts from victims and some videos of unidentified victims. The District Attorney’s Office later said Heron was being charged in 21 cases involving alleged sexual abuse and assault of young girls and women, and threats made against witnesses.

Heron, of Northeast Philadelphia, was expected to be arraigned later Tuesday. He was rearrested on counts including kidnapping, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, unlawful contact with a minor, sexual assault, child sexual abuse, indecent assault, and institutional sexual assault.

Heron’s lawyer, Pierre LaTour, declined comment on the additional charges.

Sgt. Eric Gripp, spokesperson for the Philadelphia Police Department, said in a statement Tuesday evening: “These latest criminal allegations against former Police Officer Patrick Heron are beyond disturbing. We ask anyone with additional information on the alleged criminal conduct of Patrick Heron to immediately contact authorities.”

The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5, the city’s police union, said previously that the union was not representing Heron.

Last year, Heron was charged with sexually assaulting young girls, often allegedly posing as an active officer after he had retired to lure them and later retaliating against or intimidating witnesses. At the time, District Attorney Larry Krasner called the case one of the most “alarming, sensitive, and serious” his office had prosecuted.

The charges then included unlawful contact with minors, computer sex acts with children, indecent assault on a person younger than 13, and stalking. Investigators believed that there were more victims who had not yet come forward.

News reports about that case led more people to come forward with new allegations, Retacco said at a news conference Tuesday.

“We keep learning there are more victims. We keep learning there is new evidence,” she said.

Retacco said that anyone with information can contact the District Attorney’s Special Investigations Union at 215-686-9608 or DAO_SIU@phila.gov. Or they can call 911 or contact Philadelphia police at a district headquarters.

Retacco also read a statement from Women Organized Against Rape and offered the organization’s hotline for victims of sexual violence: 215-985-3333.

In the case last year, prosecutors alleged that Heron would send messages to victims in an attempt to groom them and coerce them into meeting him. Often, Heron allegedly would tell them he was a police officer, despite being retired, and he would solicit intimate photos and videos of the underage victims.

Heron allegedly had conversations of a sexual nature with children, asking them to send him explicit photos. One victim told investigators Heron sexually assaulted her when she was a child, and Heron was later allegedly found with photos of the incident.

A witness who worked at a Philadelphia public school told the District Attorney’s Office that several children complained about messages Heron had been sending them, calling them “love” and “sweetie.” One victim, prosecutors said, described an incident in which Heron inappropriately touched her when she was 8.