Former Officer Indicted for Sexual Abuse of 19 Detainees: ‘Accused of 36 Felonies’

A former Missouri police officer is now accused of sexually assaulting 19 males he detained or arrested, just months after being accused of molesting eight men while in his custody.

Marcellis Blackwell, 34, of St. Louis, worked as an officer for the North County Police Cooperative until his arrest in June 2023, when he was charged with sexually abusing a detained man he had arrested at Normandy High School.

Three months later, after other victims came forward with similar allegations, Blackwell was indicted on 21 felony counts for abusive sexual intercourse with eight males.

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A grand jury in the U.S. District Court in St. Louis delivered a superseding indictment on Wednesday charging him with sexually assaulting even more men, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri.

According to the new accusation, between November 8, 2022, and June 5, 2023, Blackwell fondled the genitals of 19 alleged victims who he had “detained and/or restrained.” On one occasion, he allegedly sodomized one of the men with his finger, which is considered serious sexual abuse.

Officials have also accused Blackwell of fabricating paperwork to conceal his actions.

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Wednesday’s indictment raises the total number of criminal charges to 36: 19 counts of deprivation of rights under color of law, namely the right to bodily integrity, and 17 counts of changing records in a federal investigation.

A motion to keep Blackwell in jail until his trial alleged that he “victimized people he thought would be less likely to report his behavior.”

In October, a judge agreed that the former cop should be jailed until trial.