A former Phoenix police officer who admitted secretly taking nude photos of a 15-year-old girl was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison.
U.S. District Judge Sharad Desai also ordered Alaa Robert Bartley to serve 15 years of supervised release after prison and pay $99,000 in restitution to 33 victims.
The sentence came after the judge said he reviewed 113 pages of victim impact statements from 42 identified victims whose child sexual abuse material Bartley possessed and, in some instances, shared.
“The victims live in fear every single day of their lives,” Desai said during the Aug. 20 sentencing. He said many wrote that they could never feel safe knowing images and videos of their abuse remained on the internet.
The 20-year sentence was what
federal prosecutors requested. Bartley’s attorney, Julia Cassels, asked for the minimum allowed under his plea agreement, 15 years. The plea capped his possible sentence at 22 years.
Bartley apologized in court, saying he had no excuse for his “horrible actions” and had let down his family, friends, former co-workers and the community.
But Desai questioned how much progress Bartley had made toward accepting what he had done.
Judge questions Bartley over psychosexual evaluation
As part of his plea deal, Bartley was ordered to undergo a psychosexual assessment before sentencing, including physiological testing and a polygraph examination.
During sentencing, Dasai said he was skeptical of defense claims that Bartley had shown deep self-reflection and remorse because the evaluation contained “multiple falsehoods.”
Later, Desai described the statements he found false, including statements about Bartley’s sexual fantasies, his interest in violent or BDSM pornography and whether he had intended to meet people he encountered online.
Cassels told the judge Bartley was in the earliest stages of treatment and argued that the conditions under which jail inmates undergo such evaluations can affect the results. She said Bartley would need extensive therapy specifically geared toward sex offenders.
Defense asks for Colorado prison over safety fears
Cassels also raised a concern about where Bartley will be imprisoned.
She said Bartley faces danger in prison because he is both a former police officer and a person convicted of a sex crime. His defense team took precautions while he was in custody to keep other inmates from learning details of his case, she said.
Cassels asked Desai to recommend that the federal Bureau of Prisons put Bartley in a prison facility in Colorado, which she said would offer a safer environment and appropriate treatment programs.
She also asked that, if the Colorado prison is unavailable, Bartley be housed outside Arizona. Cassels said keeping him in Arizona increased the possibility he could meet inmates he had dealt with during his years as a Phoenix officer.
Desai agreed to make both recommendations, with Colorado as his first choice and an out-of-state placement as the backup. The Bureau of Prisons ultimately decides where federal prisoners are housed.
What did Bartley plead guilty to?
Bartley pleaded guilty in February to one count of producing child pornography and attempting to do so.
In his plea agreement, Bartley admitted that in November 2019 he secretly photographed a 15-year-old girl while she was in a bathroom. Bartley also admitted taking other photographs of her without her knowledge, including one while she was in the shower.
The guilty plea resolved a much broader federal prosecution.
Bartley initially was arrested in April 2024 on charges of receiving and possessing child pornography tied to a separate federal investigation in Michigan. Investigators said they found thousands of pages of online communications and numerous images and videos of child sexual abuse material.
A federal grand jury later indicted Bartley on 12 counts, including attempted production of child pornography, attempted coercion and enticement of a minor, distribution, eight counts of receiving child pornography and possession.
Under the plea agreement, prosecutors agreed to dismiss Counts 2 through 12 at sentencing. Desai formally dismissed those 11 counts Thursday, though the agreement allowed him to consider the broader investigation when deciding Bartley’s punishment.
Desai said Bartley’s actions in the broader investigation was part of why he imposed a sentence above the 15-year guideline calculation.
He described as “scary” an escalation from sexual fantasies and online role-playing to exchanging child sexual abuse material and to attempting to meet someone Bartley believed was a 14-year-old girl.
Bartley spent 16 years with Phoenix police
Bartley joined the Phoenix Police Department in 2007 and spent roughly 16 years with the agency.
He resigned on April 18, 2024, shortly after his arrest and before scheduled administrative action by the department, according to Phoenix police. The department put him on administrative leave and started disciplinary proceedings after learning of the FBI investigation.
At sentencing, Desai noted that Bartley had no prior criminal history and had spent years serving as a police officer. But the judge said Bartley’s law enforcement background troubled him because Bartley repeatedly referenced being an officer in sexually explicit online conversations underlying the investigation.
Bartley will receive credit for the roughly two and a half years he has already spent in federal custody.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Ex-Phoenix police officer sentenced for secretly photographing teen
