Roger Golubski, a former Kansas City Police Department detective, faces federal charges in relation to allegedly running a sex trafficking operation in the 1990s. Golubski, 69, along with three other men, Cecil Brooks, LeMark Roberson, and Richard Robinson, are charged with one count of conspiring to hold individuals in a condition of involuntary servitude and one count of forcing individuals to provide sexual services.
Golubski was also indicted by a federal grand jury. The grand jury charged him with six counts relating to sexually assaulting a woman and a teenage girl. Both individuals state that he assaulted them while he was working in his official capacity as a police department detective between the years of 1998-2002. Specifically, Golubski is accused of digitally penetrating one victim, forcing her to engage in oral sex acts, and raping her. Additionally, he is also accused of sexually assaulting another victim, raping her, and forcing her to engage in oral sex acts.
Between the years of 1996-1998, Golubski helped Brooks, Roberson, and Robinson run a sex trafficking operation out of the Delevan Apartments in Kansas City. Golubski allegedly accepted bribes from Brooks, who ran the apartment complex. As a result, Golubski allegedly helped to shield the those involved in the operation from law enforcement suspicion. The traffickers would allegedly compel young women to provide sexual services to men, and if the victims refused, the traffickers used threats and actual violence or sexual assault to force the victims to participate. The accused men would allegedly prey on minors as young as thirteen, and Brooks would specifically target minors who were just released from Beloit Juvenile Correctional Facility or runaways.
Golubski has pleaded not guilty to all these charges. He currently awaits trial under home confinement. If convicted, he and the three other co-defendants face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Brooks and Roberson are both being held in custody out of state and have not yet made their court appearance. There has been no update on Robinson’s status or location.
The CSE Institute commends the FBI Kansas City Field Office for their investigative efforts. The CSE Institute also supports the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas and the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division for their work prosecuting this case and holding individuals who sexually exploit others accountable. Most importantly, the CSE Institute applauds the bravery of the survivors in this case. Survivor voices will be the force of change in the sex trafficking narrative.
At the CSE Institute, we have reported on lawyers, doctors, teachers, bosses, and law enforcement officers alike who have used their power, wealth, and status to buy sex and exploit others. Golubski’s arrest highlights the ongoing issue that people in positions of power continue to exploit vulnerable people.
The investigation is ongoing, and the FBI encourages anyone with additional information to contact them at 1-800-CALL-FBI.
The CSE Institute will continue to provide updates on this matter as it proceeds.
All views expressed herein are personal to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law or of Villanova University.