Former Minister, Cop Sentenced for Child Porn, Sex Abuse

Screenshot of Officer Darrell Best from WJLA TV

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UPPER MARLBORO, MD — A former Washington, D.C., police officer and pastor from Upper Marlboro was sentenced Friday on charges of child pornography and sex abuse of a minor, part of a plea deal that kept the young victims from having to appear in court.

Darrell Best, a former member of the Metropolitan Police Department, pleaded guilty in October to one count of production of child pornography, one count of first-degree sexual abuse of a minor, and one count of second-degree sexual abuse of a minor.

The plea agreement called for Best to be sentenced to 18 years in prison, which Judge Reggie B. Walton ordered Friday. In court, Walton said Best’s crimes deserved a life sentence, but he approved the plea deal so the two girls abused by Best wouldn’t have to testify in court.

Best will also be required by law to register as a sex offender for the remainder of his life.

In court he apologized to the victims, who came to him in his capacity as a minister.

“This was not premeditated, it was a moment of weakness,” Best told the judge, who disagree, reports WTOP.

In addition to working as a police officer, Best was the head pastor of a church in Southeast Washington. The sexual abuse charges stem from incidents involving two girls who knew and trusted him through the church, police said.

One of the incidents of sexual abuse took place on Dec. 3, 2014 at MPD headquarters, according to police, while the other criminal act happened Feb. 14, 2015 inside the church.

After one of the girls told her parents about the abuse, the Metropolitan Police Department’s Youth Division began investigating the case, police said. Best was arrested two days later and has been in custody ever since.

Following Best’s arrest, investigators obtained a search and seizure warrant from the Superior Court of the District of Columbia for Best’s cellular phone. A forensic examination of the phone revealed seven images depicting child pornography, which Best had produced using one of the victims.