Two Separate Missouri Officers Indicted on Charges of Stealing Nudes from Women’s Phones

Calling it “a matter of coincidence” as the cases occurred in different counties and jurisdictions in the state, per CNN, the FBI alleges that in both cases officers asked women for their phones, presumably to verify insurance coverage, registration, or other identification.

Authorities claim these officers then would search the victims’ phones for nudes. According to the US attorney’s office, the officers used their personal phones to take pictures of the nudes found on the women’s phones, and in some cases uploaded them to their iCloud accounts.

On November 12, David McKnight, a 39-year-old Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper, was indicted in federal court in Cape Girardeau. The following day, Julian Alcala, a 29-year-old police officer in Florissant, was indicted in federal court in St. Louis.

The attorney for one of Alcala’s alleged victims said that she reported him to the FBI, while one of McKnight’s alleged victims reportedly turned him in to his supervisor, according to the outlet.

Alcala reportedly searched and took images from 20 women between February 6 and May 18, while McKnight searched nine phones, taking images from at least seven of them, from September 2023 to August 2024, per the indictments.

In the case of Alcala, there are at least three lawsuits that have been filed against him on behalf of six different plaintiffs relating to these same allegations. One of those lawsuits details an alleged incident where he sent himself a video of the woman.

According to the victim in the suit, Alcala took her phone after a traffic stop in February. When she received it back, she noticed a deleted text message sent during her traffic stop.

According to the suit, Alcala found a video of the woman having sex and texted it to himself from her phone. Not recognizing the number, the woman contacted the FBI, per St. Louis NBC affiliate KSDK.

“Once he deletes the text message, he gets an obstruction charge, which is the most serious out of these,” says J.C. Pleban, one of the attorneys representing the various plaintiffs in the suits against Alcala.

“Nobody ever thinks that something like this, something this outrageous, is going to happen when we put law enforcement into the streets,” Pleban continued. “They’re supposed to protect and serve.”

On October 28, another lawsuit was filed against Alcala on behalf of four anonymous victims, describing his actions as alleged behavior as “a shocking degradation, an egregious humiliation and a flagrant breach of confidentiality.”

The suit calls the alleged abuses of power sex-based discrimination, emphasizing that he only ever took photos and videos from women’s phones. This was followed by yet another lawsuit on behalf of a single anonymous victim on November 14.

According to a Facebook post by the Florissant Police Department, Alcala “immediately resigned” when the department was made away by the FBI of the allegations, and the “department fully cooperated with the investigation.”

“We are disgusted at this behavior, which is a complete betrayal of the values we uphold and in no way reflects the professionalism and integrity of our dedicated officers,” the department said. “We recognize the gravity of this breach of trust and its impact on our community. Rebuilding that trust is our top priority, and we are committed to transparency, accountability, and regaining the confidence of those we serve.”

Seven of the counts against McKnight allege that he took photographs of nude images found on victims’ phones. All of those images were subsequently found on McKnight’s phone, per court documents.

In two instances, authorities say McKnight confiscated the women’s phones after arresting them. In other cases, he allegedly told women he was looking for proof of insurance coverage or ID. The count for destroying records comes from allegations he “deleted or attempted to delete those images from his cell phone.”

McKnight resigned from the Missouri State Highway Patrol on August 26, shortly after his arrest on six counts of felony invasion of privacy in both New Madrid and Scott Counties, as reported by Cape Girardeau CBS affiliate KVFS.

Emily Northern told the outlet that it was she who reported McKnight to his supervisor over the summer after she was pulled over for expired plates. She told the news station that when she went to show him her proof of insurance on her phone, “he asked if he could take it with him to his car and I was uncomfortable with it, but I didn’t want to argue with him.”

She said he was gone with her phone for up to 15 minutes, and after he returned, she checked his screen time. “He was on my photos for 5 minutes. He was in my Snapchat for also like 5 minutes and my settings and my text messages,” she told the outlet.

“I was a mess. I was crying. It was such an awful feeling knowing he was going through my phone like I’ve got private personal photos of me. I have children on there,” the alleged victim added.

Despite reaching out to the supervisor directly, Northern believes it was social media that made a difference, after another alleged victim shared a social media post with a story very similar to hers.

Each officer has been charged with one count of destroying records in a federal investigation and multiple counts of deprivation of the right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure, per CNN.

They also both pleaded not guilty: Alcala at his arraignment Friday, and McKnight on Thursday, per court records. McKnight’s bond was set at $10,000, per KFVS. Meanwhile, KMOV reports Alcala has been released on a personal recognizance bond.