Predatory Detective Could|Get Life in Prison

ST. LOUIS (CN) – A former detective with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department could be sentenced to life in prison after admitting he sexually abused five women in a drug court program.      Scott Edwards, 50, of Troy, Mo., pleaded guilty in Federal Court to two felony counts of deprivation of rights under color of law including aggravated sexual abuse, one felony count of deprivation of rights under color of law including kidnapping, and two misdemeanor counts of deprivation of rights under color of law including sexual contact.     Edwards faces up to life in prison at his Oct. 18 sentencing.     Edwards was a drug court tracker for the Lincoln County drug court until he resigned in December 2010.     Prosecutors claimed Edwards engaged in sexual acts with the five women without their consent while he was on and off duty.     An attorney who represented the victims in drug court told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Edwards used drug court money to put the women up in hotels so he would have easier access to them and that he threatened them with jail time if they did not have sex with him.

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