A former Indiana deputy sheriff is facing felony charges after allegedly impersonating a woman online to harass a former girlfriend.
Deputy sheriff used profile created to target child predators to harass ex
Authorities say Derek Joseph Bogenschutz, 36, created a fake Facebook profile and posed as a woman to target his teacher ex-girlfriend, and her current boyfriend.
Bogenschutz, who previously worked for the Jay County Sheriff’s Office and served as a part-time school resource officer at the elementary school where the victim taught, now faces one count of felony identity deception.
The investigation was launched in February when the Union City Police Department received a complaint from the teacher, who believed she was being harassed by a woman named “Katie Morgan.”
The woman claimed that “Katie Morgan” had been sending her disturbing messages about her relationship with her boyfriend, who works as a Union City police officer.
However, authorities soon discovered that “Katie Morgan” never existed. The real perpetrator was Bogenschutz, who had created the fake profile in an attempt to manipulate and emotionally distress the victim.
Bogenschutz tried to destroy ex-girlfriend’s current relationship
According to court documents, Bogenschutz used the fake “Katie Morgan” profile to send the teacher messages suggesting that her boyfriend was unfaithful and was “playing” both of them.
In one message, he allegedly sent screenshots of fabricated conversations between “Katie Morgan” and the teacher’s boyfriend, supposedly showing them involved in a spat about other women.
The intent, investigators believe, was to drive a wedge between the couple and create chaos in the teacher’s personal life.
Bogenschutz’s scheme wasn’t limited to targeting the teacher. He also allegedly messaged her boyfriend under the fake profile, continuing the deception and trying to create further issues between the pair.
The boyfriend, like the teacher, became suspicious and reported the harassment. He informed another officer, a Jay County sheriff’s deputy, who happened to recall something unusual about the name “Katie Morgan.”
The deputy remembered that while working with the Indiana Crimes Against Children Task Force, Bogenschutz had created a fake Facebook account under the name “Katie Morgan” for job-related purposes.
The profile had been intended to catch child predators, but Bogenschutz allegedly repurposed it for personal harassment.
When the deputy accessed the old task force account, he reportedly found messages sent to both the teacher and her boyfriend, confirming Bogenschutz’s involvement in the harassment.
Bogenschutz’s use of the fake profile has now led to his arrest and serious criminal charges. On Wednesday morning, he was taken into custody in Miami County and will likely be extradited back to Jay County, where he will face the charge of identity deception.
Indiana State Police are handling the case, and jail records indicate that Bogenschutz was released on Thursday afternoon.
Deputy sheriff got in trouble on the job
This isn’t the first time Bogenschutz has faced trouble in his law enforcement career. In 2019, he was reprimanded after a citizen filmed him speeding.
“Policing the police, just making sure somebody keeps him in check,” Anthony Cunningham said while he was recording the video. “You see him fly past me. He didn’t use a turn signal when he passed me.”
That’s when he decided to follow the officer at break neck speeds. “Somebody has to watch this guy because clearly he’s doing something he should be,” Cunningham noted. “We’re doing 50 in a 30, 60 in a 40. At one point in time, we get up to 90 in a 55. Like, that’s just insane.”
Cunningham reportedly flipped the off-duty officer, who subsequently pulled him over and asked what his problem was.
“Why don’t you get down the road, do the speed limit and next I catch you speeding, I will give you a citation,” Bogenshutz said in the footage.
The interaction resulted in a five-day suspension without pay and a 30-day suspension of his take-home car privileges.
Despite that incident, Bogenschutz had remained on the force until recently, when the investigation into the fake Facebook profile and harassment came to light.
