After decades of allegedly terrorizing Kansas City, Kansas’ Black community, with seeming impunity, former police detective Roger Golubski will finally face a jury of his peers.
Golubski has been accused of a litany of misdeeds, including rape, kidnapping, running a sex trafficking ring and a protection racket.
A federal judge in Topeka set Dec. 2 as the start date for the first of two criminal trials against the former KCKPD detective, whose alleged reign of terror on the force spanned 35 years.
The 71-year-old former detective has been awaiting trial under house arrest since Sept. 2022, and not without controversy. In Feb. 2023, he was spotted at a Culver’s restaurant in KCK, leading federal prosecutors to attempt to revoke his pretrial release.
While a federal judge ultimately allowed him to remain on house arrest, the incident heightened community concerns about the level of freedom afforded to a man accused of such serious crimes.
Golubski’s medical issues of diabetes and kidney disease were cited for the need for house arrest and an unusual trial schedule. The December trial will follow a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule that accommodates the former KCKPD detective’s dialysis treatments.
The Charges
In this first federal case, Golubski faces six felony counts of civil rights violations, each carrying a potential life sentence. The charges stem from allegations by two Black women, one of whom was barely a teenager when the alleged assaults began.
One victim, identified in court documents as S.K., was just 13 or 14 years old when Golubski allegedly began assaulting her in 1998. The other victim, Ophelia Williams, has bravely come forward to share her story publicly.
Williams says that Golubski forced her into sex acts while on duty and in his squad car over the course of about a year – all while her teenage sons were facing murder charges, highlighting the devastating way Golubski allegedly used his badge to exploit vulnerable Black families.
Seven additional women will be allowed to testify about similar allegations, helping prosecutors establish what they say was a clear pattern of predatory behavior that stretched across Golubski’s career from 1975 to 2010.
A Pattern of Exploitation and Terror
According to other recent civil lawsuits and criminal indictments, Golubski’s alleged crimes went far beyond individual assaults. While wearing the badge of KCKPD, prosecutors say he operated as part of a larger criminal enterprise that targeted and terrorized the Black community.
In a second federal indictment, Golubski faces charges of participating in a sex trafficking ring between 1996 and 1998.
Prosecutors allege he partnered with Cecil Brooks, a notorious drug dealer, providing police protection while young women – many of them Black teenagers – were trafficked at the Delevan Apartments complex.
The indictment describes a horrifying operation where young girls, some recently released from juvenile facilities or experiencing homelessness, were locked in apartments and forced to provide sexual services to adult men, including Golubski himself.
Not Just ‘One Bad Apple’
An additional civil lawsuit filed by five Black women against the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, KS, paints an even broader picture of corruption. The lawsuit alleges that Golubski was not simply a “bad apple” but rather part of a systemic problem that reached the highest levels of law enforcement in KCK.
The suit names four former police chiefs – Thomas Dailey, James Swafford, Ronald Miller, and Terry Zeigler – as defendants, alleging they protected and enabled a protection racket despite knowing of its existence. Zeigler, notably, was Golubski’s former partner before being promoted to chief.
“The squad room openly joked about mistreating Black women and the many ‘halfbreed’ offspring Golubski had likely fathered by his victims,” the lawsuit states, highlighting how openly Golubski’s alleged behavior was discussed within the department.
The McIntyre Connection
Perhaps the most well-known case connected to Golubski is that of Lamonte McIntyre, who spent 23 years in prison for a double-murder he didn’t commit. McIntyre’s mother, Rose, alleged that Golubski framed her son because she rejected his sexual advances.
The case brought Golubski’s alleged misconduct to light and led to a $12.5 million settlement with the Unified Government in 2022.
Recent indictments suggest the McIntyre case may have been even more sinister than initially thought. The same Cecil Brooks named in Golubski’s sex trafficking indictment was allegedly connected to the murders McIntyre was wrongly convicted of committing. According to court documents, Brooks had reportedly beaten and threatened one of the victims days before the murder over stolen money or drugs.
The Path to Accountability
The December trial represents what many hope will be the beginning of broader accountability. The trial is expected to run through January, with opening statements set for Dec. 6.
At least 100 potential jurors will be called, with special questionnaires being required due to the sensitive and high-profile nature of the case.
While the date for Golubski’s second federal trial on sex trafficking charges has yet to be set, community advocates continue pushing for wider reforms. Justice for Wyandotte and other organizations have successfully advocated for the creation of a Cold Case Unit within KCKPD to investigate more than 280 unsolved cases, many involving Black victims whose cases had been neglected for years.
