Judge Sends Home Ex-Cop Accused of Serially Abusing Black Women, Citing Health Concerns

Roger Golubski—a retired Kansas City, Kansas cop alleged to have tormented scores of poor and working-class Black women during his tenure—was released from detention on Monday per a judge’s ruling that cited health concerns, and the fact that he hasn’t recently been alleged of any crimes.

“Mr. Golubski has terrorized a community for a long, long time,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Hunting told the judge at the hearing. Despite the prosecution’s insistence that Golubski’s horrifying history of sexual abuse and harassment warrants detention until his trial, the 69-year-old retired detective has been allowed to return to his home to be monitored by location technology. He’s permitted to leave only to attend religious services and to receive medical care related to diabetes and recovery from a quintuple bypass surgery.

Less than a week ago, Golubski was arrested and charged with six counts of civil rights violations stemming from two respective cases where he’s alleged to have sexually abused both a Black woman and teenager between 1998 and 2002. Five of the six counts allege that he kidnapped, or attempted to kidnap, the woman and teen. At the hearing, prosecutors emphasized Golubski’s violent nature—claiming that he punched and choked the middle-school-aged victim, and allegedly pointed his gun at her feet while saying, “I can make you dance.”

Activists and those who say they’ve been harmed by Golubski reportedly attended the hearing and were incensed by the judge’s ruling. Lamonte McIntyre, a man who alleged he was wrongfully convicted in 1994 after Golubski framed him for double homicide, left mid-way. Niko Quinn, a local woman who alleged the then-officer stalked her from 1994 to 2010, called Golubski “an animal” following the hearing. “My life has been ruined,” she told reporters.

In a 25-page motion made public last week, prosecutors wrote that over three decades, seven other women accused Golubski of using his authority to corner and intimidate them. Some of them also accused him of rape. Prosecutors also noted that Golubski often threatened them with death if they tried to report his offenses: “Before the defendant was ever charged with an offense carrying a potential sentence of life imprisonment — indeed, before charges were even on the horizon for the defendant — the defendant threatened to kill a grandmother, to put a victim in the morgue, and to kill victims or have victims killed and to ensure that their bodies were never found, if his victims reported him.”

Disturbingly, many more women allege Golubski harmed them but cannot pursue justice within the legal system due to the state’s statute of limitations. According to a feature published in August by the Kansas City Star, at least two women—Ophelia Williams and a woman who was identified only as “S.K.”—allege that they were repeatedly sexually assaulted by Golubski. Williams told the Star that Golubski’s sexual abuse—which spanned more than a year—began after her sons were taken into custody for double homicide. Golubski promised to help throughout her sons’ cases. When a lawyer asked Williams if she ever called the police during a deposition for a related case, she replied: “He was the police.”

Meanwhile, S.K. told the publication that she met the former detective when she was just 13 years old and the sexual abuse would last until she turned 18. One rape resulted in a pregnancy and, in another instance of abuse, Golubski put a dog collar on the girl and walked next to her as she crawled. He threatened death if she didn’t comply. An employee at a Kansas City shelter for battered women also told the Star that she recalled meeting “numerous” victims of Golubski, remembering specifically how women “cried” and “shook” as they talked about the “dirty cop” who “dumped” some of them back on the street, “still undressed, when he was done with them.”

In late 2021, CNN reported that federal prosecutors launched a criminal grand jury investigation into Golubski’s record, which is reportedly ongoing. The Kansas City, Kansas police department also admitted that since 2019, it’s been actively responding to subpoenas about the former detective from the FBI. Golubski has never spoken about the alleged abuse. Instead, he’s repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent.

His next court appearance, a status conference, is scheduled for Oct. 12. Federal investigations of Golubski’s crimes remain ongoing.