Chicago police are investigating if cops had improper sexual contact with immigrants, including allegedly impregnated teen

Chicago police are investigating accusations that a group of officers had improper sexual contact with newly arrived immigrants.

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One of the officers, assigned to the Ogden police district, covering Lawndale and Little Village, has been accused of impregnating a teenage girl, law enforcement sources said Thursday.

Multiple other officers are accused of engaging in sexual acts with immigrants.

A police spokesperson said the department’s bureau of internal affairs and the city’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability are investigating.

As the city has struggled to accommodate an influx of new arrivals being sent from the Southern U.S. border, controversy has brewed over the decision to temporarily house many of them at police stations.

Police officials wouldn’t say if any of the officers had been stripped of their police powers or whether the accusations involving the teen had been referred to Cook County prosecutors. A COPA spokesperson didn’t respond to a request for comment.

About 11,000 immigrants have come to Chicago since August. Many were placed on buses or planes and driven to the city at the direction of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. Chicago has grappled with finding adequate shelter for the new arrivals.

Hundreds have had to spend nights sleeping on the floors of police stations. To ease the burden on the stations, the city has turned to housing immigrants at temporary locations, including Wilbur Wright College on the Northwest Side.

The city’s plans to open these shelters have been met with protests by people in some neighborhoods, including South Shore, where opponents of the move have said City Hall instead should be putting money into trying to help areas with a poor history of economic development.

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration plans to open five shelters across the city with a combined capacity of nearly 2,500 and a welcoming center for new arrivals at Roberto Clemente Community Academy High School, 1147 N. Western Ave.

A spokesperson for Johnson said of the accusations involving the police: “The city takes these allegations, as well as the care and well-being of all residents and new arrivals, very seriously.”

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times(file)

Most of the immigrants reaching Chicago are from Venezuela. Others are from Colombia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Peru, Honduras, Mexico, El Salvador, Russia, Cuba, Angola and the Dominican Republic.

Contributing: Fran Spielman, Emmanuel Camarillo