TOPEKA, Kan. -- The federal trial for former Kansas City, Kansas police detective Roger Golubski was supposed to start Monday, but Golubski did not show up.
A warrant has been issued for his arrest.
Golubski faces charges of violating the civil rights of two women. He worked for the department for 35 years, retiring in 2010.
Along with accusations of using his authority as an officer to violate two women's civil rights, he faces allegations of sexually assaulting the victims between 1998 and 2002.
One of the victims was 13 or 14 years old when the alleged abuse started. Court documents include accusations of aggravated sexual abuse and kidnapping.
A white Kansas police detective accused of sexually assaulting Black women and girls and terrorizing those who tried to fight back is about to go on federal trial, part of a tangle of cases tied to decades of alleged abuse.
Prosecutors say female residents of poor neighborhoods in Kansas City, Kansas, feared that if they crossed paths with Roger Golubski, he’d demand sexual favors and threaten to harm or jail their relatives.
He is charged with six felony counts of violating women’s civil rights.
Golubski, now 71, is accused of sexually assaulting one woman starting when she was barely a teenager and another after her sons were arrested. If a jury convicts him, he could die in prison.
The trial is the latest in a string of lawsuits and criminal allegations that has led the county prosecutor’s office to begin a $1.7 million effort to reexamine cases Golubski worked on during his 35 years on the force.
One double murder case Golubski investigated already has resulted in an exoneration and an organization run by rapper Jay-Z is suing to obtain police records.
Golubski has pleaded not guilty, and his attorney has said that lawsuits over the allegations are an “inspiration for fabrication” by his accusers. But prosecutors said that, along with the two women whose accounts are the heart of the criminal case, seven others will testify that Golubski abused or harassed them.
Due to his health, he has been under house arrest while awaiting trial. He gets dialysis treatments on a regular basis.
Court officials are now scheduling the trial to start at 1 p.m. Monday while authorities try to locate him.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
