A former New York police chief who botched the investigation into the Gilgo Beach killings, and later went to jail for beating a man in custody, is again in hot water after allegedly being caught in a prostitution sting. James Burke, the chief of the Suffolk County Police Department from 2012 to 2015, was taken into custody by park rangers at a Long Island park on Tuesday, county authorities said. Burke, 58, is facing charges of offering a sex act, public lewdness, indecent exposure, and criminal solicitation. Further charges may be pending. Sources close to the matter told PIX 11 that Burke allegedly tried to solicit sex from an undercover ranger. In 2016, Burke pleaded guilty to covering up the beating of a man who had broken into the then-chief’s vehicle, taking a bag stuffed with ammunition, sex toys, and cigars, according to court records. He resigned from the department and was released from federal prison in 2018.
