Detective David Edward Abbot, barricaded himself in his Virginia home and shot himself with a handgun as police tried to arrest him on child sex charges.
A Virginia detective on a task force that investigates crimes against children killed himself as police tried to arrest him on child sex charges, officials said.
David Edward Abbot, 39, who served with the Manassas City Police Department, barricaded himself in his Gainesville home and shot himself with a handgun on Tuesday, Prince William County Police said.
Investigators with the Prince William County Police Department’s Special Victims Unit were attempting to execute multiple felony warrants at Abbot’s Senea Drive home when he refused to surrender and killed himself, police said.
He was pronounced dead at the scene, cops said.
Abbot, who served on MCPD’s Northern Virginia-D.C. Internet crimes against children task force, was wanted for indecent liberties by a custodian and use of a communications device to solicit sexual offenses, authorities said.
An investigation was launched Monday to probe Abbott’s relationship with a 13-year-old boy who played in a local hockey league where the disgraced detective coached, police said.
Abbott was believed to have begun soliciting sex from the child in June 2013, when the boy was 11 years old, through phone calls, text, social media and emails, officials said.
Investigators found that Abbot had inappropriate communication with another 13-year-old boy starting in 2008. That child also played in the hockey league.
Abbot acted as the lead investigator in a sexting case in 2014 in which he obtained a warrant to photograph a 17-year-old boy’s genitals when they were sexually aroused to compare them to a picture detectives suspected the teen sent his 15-year-old girlfriend. The warrant was never enforced.
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He later sued the boy’s attorney, Jessica Harbeson Foster, for defamation when she said Abbot’s mission to acquire photos of the teen’s erect penis was “just crazy.”
He withdrew the suit.
The Manassas City Police Department in a statement Tuesday praised Abbot for his work “in spite of these recent developments.”
“This is a tragic and sad day for the Abbott family, the juvenile victims and their families, the Manassas City Police Department, and our community,” the statement said.
“In spite of these recent developments regarding the serious allegations against him, we are grateful for the contributions Det. Abbott made during his time with Manassas City Police, to include the prosecution and conviction of hundreds of criminals. His family and peers request privacy during this time as we grieve and struggle to accept the realities of such a loss.”
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