COLUMBUS, Ohio — A former Columbus police officer was sentenced to 36 months in prison after he pleaded guilty, back in January, to two counts of destroying or altering records related to a criminal investigation.

A press release from the Acting United States Attorney Kelly A. Norris, Southern District of Ohio, states that Nicholas Duty, 36, of Commercial Point, Ohio, had “destroyed, altered or falsified records by purposefully deactivating or removing his police body worn camera” in order “to impede, obstruct or influence a federal investigation.”

He'd been working for the Columbus Division of Police since June 2018. He was indicted back in April 2024.

“In February 2024, Columbus police officers were working street-level prostitution crimes in the area of Sullivant Avenue on the west side of Columbus when a witness expressed concerns about Duty’s on-duty activities with sex workers,” the release reads. “Duty was positively identified during the administration of a blind photo array.”

It states that he’d deactivated or removed his body worn camera on Oct. 31, 2023, and March 22, 2024, amid interactions with two women, “including during a sexual encounter.”

The release said he was on duty, wearing a uniform and driving a marked police vehicle. It states he knew he had to comply with department policies related to his body camera.

“Further review of Duty’s digital devices revealed numerous conversations in which Duty would seek out sex from various women, including victims of crime, whom he met while working on duty as a Columbus Police Officer,” the release reads. “He would also send messages to sex workers while working and then meet up with them in his police cruiser, engage in sex acts with them, and then pay them for the sex acts.”