Metro officer arrested, charged with child abuse

Tuesday, Aug. 12, 1997 | 9:46 a.m.

and Cathy Scott

A nine-year Metro Police officer has been arrested and charged with abusing one of his children.

Besides facing a criminal charge, Officer Steven Larrabee, who works as a patrol officer in the Northwest Area Command, faces an internal investigation, said Sgt. William Minor, a Metro spokesman. Larrabee, 33, was on paid administrative leave pending the investigation, Minor said.

Neighbors called police Saturday morning after hearing a child screaming inside Larrabee's apartment on 24th Street, a source told the SUN.

When officers arrived, they found "a child who complained of injuries that were (allegedly) caused by the biological father (Larrabee)," Minor said. Larrabee has three children ages 7, 10 and 11, with his estranged wife, 32-year-old Tammy Larrabee, according to the police report. The children live with the mother, police said. Larrabee had separated from his wife several months ago, Minor said.

The child's injuries weren't released because of the ongoing investigation, Minor said.

Officers then went to the mother's apartment on Wendell Street to pick up clothing for the children and found only box springs for them to sleep on, clothing strewn on the floors, no running water, cockroaches, maggots and allegedly "filthy conditions," according to the police report.

The kids had lice, the report said, and the mother had dyed their hair in an attempt to rid them of the lice. The mother, who was home at the time, was arrested for child neglect because of the conditon of the home, police said.

Steven Larrabee was charged with a gross misdemeanor of child abuse.

Tammy Larrabee was charged with a gross misdemeanor of child neglect. Both were booked into Clark County Detention Center and released Saturday on their own recognizance, a jail spokeswoman.

A source said Steven Larrabee "was walked through the system" and was held for a short time at the jail.

Their children, whose names were not released, were taken into protective custody by Abuse and Neglect Unit detectives and temporarily placed at Child Haven, Minor said.

Punishment for conviction of a gross misdemeanor charge could bring up to a year's time in county jail and/or a $2,000 fine.