‘Is an obscenity’: Couple suing police for 2020 SWAT raid speaks out, calling for change
By Megan Mellado
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ORLANDO, Florida (WESH) — Christian and Laurie Campbell are calling for change after they say a SWAT team with the Orlando Police Department raided their home in 2020, following what they say were false allegations that they were involved in an online chat about exchanging child pornography.
“It was claimed that our internet connection was used in conjunction with some chat that they were investigating. Just to be accused of being even remotely connected to something like this is an obscenity,” Christian Campbell said.
Christian said he remembers seeing law enforcement pull up as he was getting his 1-year-old daughter out of her crib. He said guns were pointed at both of them.
“As I opened the door, they still had those rifles trained on my daughter’s head and my head for no reason whatsoever,” he said.
Surveillance video shows the moments he gets pulled out of the house. He said he was held in the front yard for hours.
Laurie said she was on her way to take their dog to the vet at the time but was pulled over and put into the back of a cop car.
“At some point, they drove me home in the police car, and I saw my husband tied up in the yard, and I said, ‘Oh my God, oh my God.’ You can hear me on the video, and I’m like, ‘Where’s my baby? What is going on?” she said.
“They sat us in the public street and they went door to door, telling our neighbors. They didn’t tell them the specifics of the case, but they characterized it as we are child pornographers,” Christian said.
They said the incident cost them custody of their daughter.
“There’s a section of my daughter’s life that I don’t remember because we were too busy fighting to get her back. We were too busy fighting for what felt like our lives,” Laurie said.
They said no evidence of child pornography was ever found. The couple was never charged.
They said they were later told someone else in Indiana was arrested in the case.
Now, they’re suing the police department for $10 million.
We reached out to OPD for comment earlier this week.
They said:
“Investigators assigned to the Internet Crimes Against Children Unit (ICAC) act within the full force of the law to ensure the safety of vulnerable and exploited children.
While OPD is unable to comment on this case, due to pending litigation, it is important to note that cases of this nature do not always lead to criminal charges.
Search warrants, which an independent judge reviews for probable cause, are an essential tool used by investigators to determine whether or not the evidence incriminates or exonerates the accused.”
“What I hope to get out of this lawsuit is to the bottom of what happened,” Christian said.
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