Date: 11th April 2003
Cop Sells Hollywood Star's Secrets
A Los Angeles police officer has been exposed for selling secrets of the stars to the media and snooping in the files of celebrities including Elle "The Body" Macpherson.
According to internal police documents, between 1994 and 2000 officer Kelly Chrisman, 34, is believed to have rifled through the police files of actors Farrah Fawcett and Meg Ryan, basketball star Kobe Bryant, O. J. Simpson, talk-show host Larry King and models Cindy Crawford and Elle Macpherson, among others.
The Los Angeles Times reported that for several years Chrisman sold confidential information about celebrities such as Sharon Stone, Sean Penn and Halle Berry.
According to the paper, Chrisman illegally consulted the computerised files of well-known personalities and sold info to the tabloid press.
Chrisman said he was acting on orders from his superiors but in a lawsuit the city of Los Angeles recently paid almost $669,456 (£425,000) to settle it was alleged Chrisman used the information for profit.
Chrisman said department superiors had asked him to make a map of the stars' homes but police officials insist no such project ever existed and have started disciplinary proceedings against him.
The Times reported that, after the case was debated by the city council on March 19, it decided to pay $648,535 (£412,000) to settle a suit against Chrisman and the police department.
The suit was filed by Cyndy Truhan, ex-wife of a baseball star and Chrisman's estranged girlfriend.
She charged that, after they broke off their relationship, he used his police access to obtain phone numbers and addresses to harass her.
A source said other files Chrisman accessed included those on Jennifer Aniston, Mickey Rourke, Pamela Anderson and Lara Flynn Boyle.
Which begs the question, why did police have files on all these celebrities to start with?
The Daily Telegraph
Source: Press Release
