Former school resource officer in Colorado accused of sending inappropriate texts to 16-year-old student
A former Aurora school resource officer is facing criminal charges after sending inappropriate texts to a teenage girl.
Egide Ndagije, 26, is charged with three counts of official misconduct for behavior that allegedly occurred over several months in 2023. CBS News Colorado will not identify the teen because she is a minor.
The Aurora Police Department launched an internal affairs investigation in October 2023 after receiving a complaint from a 16-year-old girl who attended Aurora Central High School, where Ndagije worked as a school resource officer.
The teen's attorney, Matthew Haltzman, says the girl reached out to Ndagije last October about problems with an ex-boyfriend.
"We have a child who was looking for help from law enforcement and became his target," said Haltzman. "This was a 16-year-old who felt like she had a problem with an ex-boyfriend and wanted some advice from law enforcement and reached out to him because he had established himself as a person who could be trusted and a person who the students looked up to."
Haltzman provided screenshots to CBS News Colorado of the text conversation between the teen and Ndagije. She refers to Ndagije as "DJ."
The teen begins the conversation saying: "hey dj it's [redacted]. i have a question i js need help with something"
Ndagije replies, asking "Ok..what's going on?"
The teen replies: "okay so i was dating this guy and I found out he cheated on me and so im trying to break up with him but he's threatening me with shi" "im so scared." "idk what to do" "i'm so freaking scared right now"
She tells Ndagije that the ex-boyfriend is threatening to share personal photos/videos and he offers advice about how to address the situation.
Ndagije later asks "Okk I get it. Have you guys ever had sex? The reason why I asked is because when it comes to domestic violence police officers are obligated to make an arrest when someone commit a crime against their partner or ex"
She answers and Ndagije suggests blocking the ex. She continues to say that she has told her mom to block him as well.
He asks: "Did you tell your mom you're talking to a cop?"
She said yes. He encouraged her not to tell PD that she was speaking with him in his police capacity.
He later goes on to ask how she's doing in her new city, as she recently moved. They engage in more personal conversation, including a discussion about weight loss where Ndagije says "What are you trying to lose??" You look great."
Later in the conversation, Ndagije says: "You are a grown woman."
The teen replies, "not yet" "I'm only grown when I start paying my own bills, is what my mom says."
Ndagije responds "Come onnn I be having alot of s**t in my head" "She still [pays] for all your bills and clothes?"
She answers, "yeah duh i'm only 16." "I'm the youngest so I'm spoiled."
Ndagije replies: "She even buys you panties???"
The teen responds: "mmm that's not appropriate DJ [laughing/crying emoticon face]"
The teen told Haltzman the conversation made her feel uncomfortable.
"Her parents looked at those text messages and immediately contacted law enforcement. Aurora Police Department assigned a detective to the case and from there, they looked at his cellphone records. They spoke with my client, and they did further investigation and determined that this officer was engaging in misconduct and inappropriate behavior to such an extent that ultimately his post certification was stripped from him," said Haltzman.
APD's investigation found misconduct spanning the period of March 2023, ending with Haltzman's client in October of 2023.
APD provided a summary of the IAB case. The allegations state:
"Without having a valid law enforcement reason to do so, [Ndagije] used NCIC/CCIC to query a juvenile and their family members then showed the query results to the juvenile. [Ndagije] then took a photo of the juvenile without their knowledge. [Ndagije] gave their personal cell phone number to the juvenile. The juvenile sent text messages to [Ndagije] in an attempt to get advice and potentially make a report about a domestic violence situation. [Ndagije] asked the juvenile questions that were inappropriate and unprofessional. [Ndagije] did not author a report about the incident. After [Ndagije] was placed on administrative leave, a supervisor found items in a bag belonging to [Ndagije] that should've been submitted to the property and evidence unit and had not been."
In a statement to CBS News Colorado, APD says:
"The department takes all allegations of officer misconduct seriously and notified APS leadership, placed the officer on administrative leave per policy, and conducted the internal affairs investigation which revealed multiple policy violations that were ultimately sustained by former Chief [Art] Acevedo... Ndagije resigned prior to the conclusion of the internal affairs investigation; however, he would have been terminated had he not resigned"
APD also made the statutorily required notifications to the Colorado POST Board.
He cannot work as a police officer in Colorado.
Former APD Chief Acevedo requested the Colorado Bureau of Investigation to conduct a separate, independent criminal investigation.
Due to the separate pending criminal investigation and court proceedings, APD says they cannot provide any other comment about the case at this time.
Haltzman says the family is worried he may have engaged in inappropriate conversations with other students.
"We don't have any information that would suggest that the school district or police department did anything to alert the school, the students, faculty or parents that this was going on. And if that's true, it's extremely disturbing and concerning, because there are likely other victims out there," said Haltzman.
CBS News Colorado asked Aurora Public Schools if they notified families about the investigation. Aurora Public Schools told us:
"School Resource Officers (SROs) are employed by the Aurora Police Department. We have been fully supportive of APD's investigation into the conduct of one of its former employees. We take all reports of misconduct seriously and want to emphasize that safety is our top priority."
Ndagije is due back in court next week.
