Prosecutors: Officer accused of killing 16-year-old used badge to steal nude photos from women

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Prosecutors said a former police officer accused of murdering a 16-year-old Gwinnett County girl used his badge to get into women’s phones and access private, explicit videos.

Miles Bryant was denied bond Monday, months after the remains of Susana Morales were recovered in the woods near the Barrow County line. Morales had been missing since last July.

Bryant’s gun was recovered near the body and he was arrested on murder and kidnapping charges in February.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Channel 2′s Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Matt Johnson was in court Monday, where prosecutors laid out an alleged pattern of “sexually deviant” behavior tracing back to Bryant’s time in high school.

Prosecutors said that on three different occasions, Bryant found ways to send sexual videos from three women’s phones to his phone. In at least one case, he was on duty and in uniform as a Doraville police officer.

Prosecutors detailed the allegations as reasons to show Bryant is a danger to the community.

RELATED STORIES:

• Former officer accused of killing 16-year-old charged with break-in at yet another woman’s home
• Sister of 16-year-old speaks out after ex-officer arrested in connection to missing teen’s death
• Woman says Doraville officer arrested in 16-year-old girl’s death stalked her for a year

“This defendant used his badge and his place of authority to commit felonies, numerous, over unauthorized access of multiple women’s accounts, breaking into their homes, a pattern of behavior that is sexually deviant and deviantly-motivated since 2018,” prosecutors said.

Elasha Bates, a high school classmate of Bryant’s, told Johnson after his arrest, that he stalked her for more than a year. A police report from Dec. 11, lists Bryant as the suspect in a suspicious activity incident.

Prosecutors said he used his work computer to find out where Bates lived, which is a felony offense.

Another woman told Johnson she lived near Bryant and that he broke into her home in 2018 when she was 16, and stole her underwear.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

The family never filed a police report.

“We went next door, and we spoke to his parents, and from there they kind of, you know, talked us out of making a police report,” the woman said.

In February 2018, a police report shows another Berkmar classmate said Bryant tried to break into her home.

“The homeowner, in that case, did not want to wish to prosecute. And so that case ultimately was resolved,” Gwinnett County Chief J.D. McClure said.

Gwinnett police have not said if they believe Bryant used his status as an officer to murder Morales.

But prosecutors said he would offer teens drugs and alcohol at the apartment complex where he lived and served as a courtesy officer.

“Several teenage girls had reported to the police that while they’d be at the pool, the defendant would approach them, offer them rides home,” prosecutors said. “He would offer them alcohol in the form of moonshine.”

It’s the same complex Morales was visiting the night of her disappearance.

New criminal charges are now forthcoming against Bryant for the explicit videos.

IN OTHER NEWS:

A Ga. woman said her baby died while co-sleeping. An autopsy revealed a crime instead, police say.

©2022 Cox Media Group