Newsmakers

LGBTQ Youth Advocate indicted for sex crimes against a minor

President Barack Obama and Caleb Laieski
Official White House Photo

By Brody Levesque | PHOENIX -- A prominent LGBT equality rights and anti-bullying activist faces more than a dozen charges of sexual misconduct with a minor.

Caleb Laieski, 18, was indicted by a grand jury in Phoenix, Arizona, on the sex-crime charges as part of a case against former Phoenix Police Detective Chris Wilson.

Wilson was arrested last December in the alleged sexual assaults of a 14-year-old boy, and 17-year-old boy. According to the Phoenix media outlet, Phoenix New Times, Laieski is that 17-year-old.

Laieski's indictment doesn't provide details about the alleged crimes but accuses him of engaging in various sex acts with the 14-year-old. 

Wilson, who resigned from the Phoenix police department because of his arrest, had met Laieski and the 14 year old victim  while he served in the department's Community Response Squad as a liaison officer to the LGBTQ community.

The 14-year-old victim had told his parents about his alleged relationships with Laieski and Wilson, and his parents went  to the police and lodged a complaint.

Laieski has said that he was "16 years old, or at most, 17 years old" when the alleged sexual encounters occurred, according to court documents.

Laieski had started his anti-bullying activism when he was forced to drop out of high school at the age of 16, rose to national prominence after he traveled to Washington to lobby Congress to make schools a safer environment for LGBT youth. Laieski met with both President Barack Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden to lobby both men about LGBT youth issues.

Laieski was also a youth and diversity advocate for Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton's office and was featured in an anti-bullying documentary 'Bullied to Silence' released in 2012. 

Earlier this year, Laieski worked on the congressional committee staff for House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, (D-MD) and is currently employed by the Arlington County, Virginia Police Department as a 911 dispatcher. 

Laieski was released from custody on a personal recognizance bond with an arraignment scheduled for next week.
The judge allowed a defense motion to allow Laieski to return and reside in Virginia pending trial.