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Audit: Fired detective mishandled dozens of child abuse cases

An audit of a former Crimes Against Children detective’s work led to the reinvestigation of more than 1,100 cases and the issuance of 85 arrest warrants.

Dennis Hutchins was fired by the department in July, fours months after concerns about his mishandling of cases were first raised. The 24-year veteran of the department has appealed.

Dennis Hutchins
Dennis Hutchins 2009 Fort Worth police annual
An initial review of Hutchins’ work was ultimately expanded to an in-depth audit spanning his 14 years in the Crimes Against Children Unit.

A task force — initially consisting of 11 detectives, one lieutenant and a captain — was formed in June to investigate cases deemed needing further scrutiny. It was disbanded last month.

The audit’s findings, released Wednesday to the Star-Telegram through an open-records request, shows that the task force investigated 1,109 out of a total 2,697 cases that had been worked by Hutchins.

You can read the article in full here.

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