Little Rock officer's misuse of crime database is linked to custody case, police say | The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

A Little Rock police officer who was fired in January and charged with multiple felonies earlier this week used a state database to access information about the father of her child and others involved in an ongoing custody case, says an affidavit.

Officer Elizabeth Roberson, 34, used the Arkansas Criminal Information Center database on at least four different dates in 2021 and 2023 to access the personal information of Khyle Thomas, with whom she had a child in 2014, Thomas' wife and one The third woman Roberson knew who she was was listed as a witness in a child support case, according to the Little Rock police officer's affidavit. Bryan Brown explains.

Each time, Roberson noted the reason for accessing the database for law enforcement purposes, even though she was not supposed to be working on one of the dates she was using the database, the affidavit said.

FBI authorities alerted a Little Rock officer working on a federal task force about Roberson's use of the database in October, and that officer collected evidence for the case before turning it over to Brown, the affidavit said.

Thomas' wife, Esmeralda, told investigators she called Roberson, with whom she got along well, and asked her to check if there were any outstanding warrants for her arrest, the affidavit said. The third woman, Courtney Paschal, whose child attended the same school as Roberson's, also told police that she called Roberson and asked her to look for tickets on Paschal's file.

Roberson told investigators that Khyle Thomas had asked them to check his file for arrest warrants, but he denied doing so when questioned by investigators, telling them that he felt his rights and privacy were being violated Roberson's actions were hurtful, the affidavit said.

Roberson now faces three counts of unauthorized inspection of a criminal history for financial gain and two counts of unauthorized inspection of a criminal history, court records show.

When Roberson accessed Khyle and Esmeralda's information in 2021, she was working in the department's street crimes unit, the affidavit said. When she accessed Paschal's information in 2023, Roberson was working as a school resource officer, according to the affidavit.

According to the affidavit, Khyle Thomas is listed as a defendant and a witness in a child support lawsuit filed April 7, 2017, in Pulaski County Circuit Court. Roberson is listed as the assignee in the lawsuit, while the Arkansas Office of Child Support Enforcement is the listed plaintiff.

Esmeralda Thomas and Paschal are both listed as witnesses in the lawsuit, the affidavit states.

This case was concluded on August 27, 2019, after a joint custody order was entered in April 2018, the affidavit states. Roberson's attorney filed for a retrial on Jan. 11, 2023, with Roberson requesting sole custody of the child, according to court records.

On Oct. 17, 2023, Judge Amy Johnson granted Khyle Thomas full custody of the child, court records show. A therapist testified that Roberson continually worked to “manipulate and alienate Mr. Thomas,” the order states.

Khyle Thomas has had sole custody of the child since then, with Roberson allowing supervised or digital visitation, records show. The custody case remained open Friday.

In the complaint that reopened the case, Roberson's attorney wrote that Roberson did not know Khyle Thomas' address in Texas, that he had not been introduced to his wife, and that their child was uncomfortable visiting Khyle Thomas in Texas according to court documents.

In an interview with investigators, Roberson said she accessed Khyle Thomas' information and searched for his address in Texas around the time the trial resumed, the affidavit said. This statement does not match the database access information provided in the affidavit.

Investigators asked Roberson if her access had anything to do with the court case and she replied “mm-mm, just so I know,” the affidavit states.

Roberson accessed Khyle Thomas' personal information, driver history and vehicle information in March, July and November 2021, the affidavit said. She accessed Esmeralda Thomas' information on the same day in March 2021 and Paschal's data in June 2023, about three months before the FBI notified Little Rock police of her suspicious actions.

Roberson has been with the department since 2018, a police news release said.