Officer Charged In Prostitution Ring: 'I Have Done Nothing Wrong'

GREENWOOD, Ind. -- An Indianapolis Metro police officer accused of helping his wife operate a prostitution ring surrendered to police Thursday and spoke publicly for the first time about the case.

As he left the Johnson County Jail after posting bond, Lee had a message for his former colleagues at the department.

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"I love the police department and I have done nothing wrong," Lee said.

Lee, 30, was fired on Wednesday after the Johnson County Prosecutor's Office released details of the allegations against him and charged him with aiding in promoting prostitution.

Among those allegations, police said Lee often wore his IMPD uniform while collecting money for the operation prosecutors said involved his wife, Lori Vernon-Lee, 36.

Lee was isolated from the rest of the jail population as he waited to be bailed out, 6News' Cheryl Jackson reported.

When Lee bonded out of jail, Lori Vernon-Lee was still there. She was charged with five counts of promoting prostitution.

Police said Lee's home, in a neighborhood full of children, was home to an escort service at which numerous sex acts were offered in exchange for money.

"Not what we would expect to find across the street," said neighbor Jim Conners. "It was pretty shocking."

Conners and his wife, Marie, said the alleged illicit business put everyone in the neighborhood in danger.

"We were wondering what happened to the kids," Jim Conners said. "They had little kids, and I know they are going to miss their mommy and daddy."

"He is supposed to be the one to protect us, and then you find this out and you say, 'My gosh, he is not doing his job.'"

Jerry McCory, 56, a former employee of the Marion County Sheriff's Department, was charged with patronizing a prostitute in connection to the same operation. He resigned from the department last month.