LAPD Officers Benched Over Rihanna Photo Leak

Fri., Sep. 11, 2009 11:39 AM PDT by Gina Serpe

Flynet

Publicizing a crime may not have paid—in the longterm, anyway—for a pair of Los Angeles police officers.

Two female members of the LAPD have reportedly been placed on paid leave as part of the ongoing (yet seemingly slow-moving) investigation into the leaking of a should-have-been confidential police photo of Rihanna in the aftermath of her beating by Chris Brown.

According to the Los Angeles Times, former housemates Rebecca M. Reyes, a nine-year vet of the force, and rookie cop Blanca Lopez have both been "assigned to home" while the investigation plays out.

"It's a pending investigation," an LAPD spokesman told E! News. "We can't comment on that right now."

One of the officers' attorneys was slightly more forthcoming.

"My client did not do anything for financial gain," Reyes' attorney Ira Salzman told the newspaper. "She did not sell the photo."

Salzman said that department officials had not filed any charges against Reyes, but he opted not to comment on whether Reyes took the photo of Rihanna, which surfaced on TMZ two weeks after the February attack, or if she at any time was in possession of it.

In addition to being a gross invasion of privacy, profiting by leaking confidential material is also a misdemeanor. Additional criminal charges could also be faced for revealing the identity of a domestic violence victim.

Meanwhile, Rihanna attorney Donald Etra told the Times that the singer was pleased with the developments in the investigation and had "nothing but praise for the LAPD."

—Additional reporting by Whitney English and Lindsay Miller

________

There's no controversy surrouding the photos in our Big Picture gallery.