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Pa. officer sent explicit photos to woman after DUI arrest, officials say

Police Officer Dominic DeJulio, 30, who began working for the department full time in February 2015, was suspended for five days without pay for his actions and required to undergo a series of psychological evaluations. He has since returned to work.

An Ohio Township police officer sent sexually explicit pictures to a woman he had charged with driving under the influence, leading to his suspension and the DUI case being withdrawn Thursday by Allegheny County prosecutors.

Police Officer Dominic DeJulio, 30, who began working for the department full time in February 2015, was suspended for five days without pay for his actions and required to undergo a series of psychological evaluations. He has since returned to work.

Over the course of several days following her preliminary hearing date of Oct. 19, the woman who received the photos, Michelle Benninger, 40, of Monroeville, said DeJulio sent her at least six inappropriate pictures of himself. In one image, he is leaning back against a couch or chair with his legs spread.

"It was very upsetting and frustrating," Benninger said. "It was just disgusting."

The whole matter began Aug. 25 at a sobriety checkpoint in Emsworth.

Another officer pulled over Benninger's car about 1 a.m. and noted that she had slurred speech, smelled of alcohol, and there was a mostly empty Corona beer bottle on the floor of her vehicle.

That officer took Benninger to DeJulio, who performed a field sobriety test. A test later showed her blood-alcohol content was 0.117 percent, above the state's 0.08 legal threshold for intoxication.

On Oct. 19, when she waived her preliminary hearing in Bellevue, Benninger said DeJulio escorted her to her car and told her he had "drunk texted" her several days earlier. She told him she never received it and that she had a new phone number. She said he smiled and tapped a green folder he was carrying, which she believed contained her new phone number, which she had given to court records.

About two weeks later, Benninger said she was on her way to work when the officer texted her and said hello. She asked in a reply message who was texting, and he identified himself and asked what she was doing.

Benninger said she replied that she was driving to work. He wrote back and said he was bored. The next message, she said, was of DeJulio naked in the locker room.

"I just couldn't even believe it," she said.

She contacted her attorney, who advised her not to make the officer angry. She then contacted the DA's investigations unit and the American Civil Liberties Union.

"Some little girl at 18 would be scared out of her mind. She wouldn't know what to do," she said. "I'm 40. I can handle it."

Over a period of several days, Benninger said, DeJulio sent at least a half-dozen completely nude photos as well as sexually explicit messages.

Benninger said she even received another picture while being interviewed on the phone about the situation by a detective.

On Thursday morning, Assistant District Attorney Jonathan Schultz withdrew the DUI charges.

Mike Manko, a spokesman for the office, said the withdrawal was done to protect Benninger from having to be revictimized by the officer at her DUI trial.