Julian Alcala, 30, a former police officer in St. Louis, Missouri, admitted to misconduct that occurred between 6/2/2024 and 18/5/2024.

On 2/12, Alcala reached an agreement with federal prosecutors, pleading guilty to 20 counts of intentionally depriving others of their right against unreasonable searches and seizures. In exchange, prosecutors dismissed a charge of obstruction of justice.

Each count carries a potential penalty of up to one year in prison, a fine of up to 100,000 USD, or both. Alcala is currently out on bail, awaiting sentencing scheduled for 11/3/2026.

Julian Alcala arriving at court in 11/2024. Photo: KSDK

According to court documents, while on duty in 2/2024, Alcala stopped a woman and took her mobile phone to his patrol car, claiming he needed to verify her insurance and vehicle registration information. Instead, he searched the phone for at least 10 minutes without a warrant or probable cause.

Alcala found a video of the woman having sex with her boyfriend, sent it to his personal mobile phone via message, and then deleted the message. He also found a nude photo of the woman and used his personal phone to photograph it.

Over the next three months, Alcala employed this similar method to seize the phones of 19 other women during traffic stops, subsequently searching for nude photos across various folders and applications.

In 6/2024, an investigation into Alcala began after the first victim noticed the deleted message on her phone and discovered that the private video had been sent to an unknown number. She contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which traced the number to Alcala. A search of Alcala's mobile phone revealed additional nude photos stored in cloud storage.

Following the charges, Alcala promptly resigned from his position and permanently surrendered his police license.