The Pennsylvania state police have launched a probe to ascertain whether one of their officers broke rules last month, when a 20-year-old woman had accused the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger of sexually assaulting her at a nightspot in rural Georgia.
In a statement to the media, the department spokeswoman Lt. Myra Taylor said that a state trooper, Edward Joyner had obtained permission from supervisors to serve as a personal assistant. Joyner, who had obtained permission five years ago, was with Roethlisberger that night.
Taylor added that Joyner had listed several activities in his request for “supplementary employment.” The activities included answering Roethlisberger’s fan mail and telephone calls, but it did not include work as a bodyguard. But in the incident, which took place on March 4, Joyner was described as working as a bodyguard in the police record.
Taylor noted that the department did not know that Joyner was serving as a bodyguard, stressing that that the department would investigate whether Joyner breached its code of conduct that night. “We are not condoning Mr. Roethlisberger’s actions that night. But we do not prosecute morals. We prosecute crimes,” said Ocmulgee Judicial Court district attorney, Fredric D. Bright.
