Following a guilty plea, a former Lake Oswego police officer was convicted in Clackamas County Circuit Court Monday, April 8 for having sex while on duty.
Michael Svoboda, who was put on administrative leave last August and later resigned from the Lake Oswego Police Department, was charged with a misdemeanor of second-degree official misconduct following a criminal investigation of the incident that happened around April 15, 2019. After pleading guilty, Svoboda was sentenced to 12 months of bench probation and 40 hours of community service, according to a press release from LOPD. His police certification was also revoked.
LOPD Chief George Burke said the department received a complaint about the misconduct last year. The complaint was sent from the person who Svoboda had sex with while on duty, Burke added. Burke said that there is no evidence that the sex was coerced or that it happened on other occasions. The incident occurred during a graveyard shift and in a private parking lot along Kruse Way, according to Burke.
Following the complaint, Burke said, the department decided to ask the Oregon City Police Department to conduct the criminal investigation of Svoboda. He said LOPD put Svoboda on administrative leave after it had obtained plausible evidence that he committed the crime. The police chief added that the delay in the case was due to waiting for the complainant to agree to cooperate with the investigation and also looking into location data or other evidence that might corroborate her claims.
Burke said last week that an administrative investigation took place after the criminal one, as is standard procedure, and that the administrative investigation would conclude upon the plea agreement.
Svoboda and the complainant met online, Burke said, and spent time together outside of the misconduct incident.
Svoboda was hired by the department in 2015 and, along with other officers, received commendation after responding to an incident involving a suicidal subject with a firearm in 2022. However, Burke said that the department had raised issues with Svoboda about posts he made on dating websites, including photos while in uniform.
Burke felt that the police department’s response showed its commitment to upholding public trust.
“The big thing I want folks to know is we understand trust is one of the most important things we can develop and have in our community. When we see things or things are reported to us that harm that public trust, we owe it to our community to make sure we do everything we can to hold our people accountable,” Burke said. “By and large, for the most part, our folks do spectacular work here. And like in any business you have people who don’t necessarily follow the rules put in place. I think in those cases it’s super important for us to ensure that we are doing everything we can within the confines of collective bargaining agreements, as well as the law enforcement standards of conduct and our code of ethics — all the things that govern how we do what we do, that we make sure we deal with those issues. Not all of them end in termination or significant discipline, but the fact of the matter is we owe it to the community to deal with those issues when we become aware of them.”
The Review submitted a public records request for more details on the case.
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