As part of an investigation into alleged human trafficking and prostitution at a spa in West Ocean City, two Maryland State Police troopers went undercover as patrons in September 2019. They were told to decline any sexual acts offered by the employees.

But one of them, Cpl. David Grinnan, engaged in a sexual act, after taking a pill for erectile dysfunction outside the spa, according to an internal investigation conducted by the Maryland State Police. While Grinnan told a woman in the spa that he wanted to “just take” the massage, Internal Affairs concluded that he later “did not tell her to stop or say no” when it went further and that he “did not push her away or attempt to get up off of the table.”

Criminal charges against two spa employees were subsequently dismissed, bringing the larger investigation — dubbed “Operation Rub A Tug Tug” — to a close with no one held accountable. Frustrated criminal investigators told Grinnan he’d ruined it, with one concluding he was “no different than any other ‘John.’ ”

By March 2020, an Internal Affairs sergeant recommended four administrative charges be sustained against Grinnan — prohibited sexual behavior on-duty, insubordination, immoral conduct and unbecoming conduct — according to a 67-page investigative file obtained through a Maryland Public Information Act request.

Instead, about seven months later, the agency sustained just one policy violation against him — an unbecoming conduct offense that led to a demotion in rank and an unpaid, 30-day suspension, an October 2020 personnel order shows.

He was permitted to return to work, and retired in 2022.

Asked why the other policy violations were not part of his final discipline, Maryland State Police spokesperson Elena Russo said last week that the reduced number of charges was negotiated as “part of a plea agreement four years ago with a former member of the Office of the Department Prosecutor,” a part of the agency.

She did not directly address whether the current superintendent agreed with the terms of that plea, instead providing a statement that read: “Under the leadership of Colonel Roland L. Butler Jr., the Maryland Department of State Police is committed to working to address any issues that do not meet the department’s professional standards and to ensure that every member of the department understands that inappropriate conduct will not be tolerated.”

Grinnan declined to comment for this article through an attorney who also represented him during the internal investigation. That attorney, John Doud, also declined to comment.

News of the investigation into Grinnan’s conduct in West Ocean City, as well as its disciplinary outcome, has not been reported previously. It comes amid ongoing scrutiny of the state police’s disciplinary practices, in part due to a pending federal lawsuit seeking class-action status that alleges racial discrimination.

The agency has made headlines over the firing of a Trooper of the Year based on a dispute over the location of a traffic stop and for permitting a corporal to retire, rather than be terminated, after the man sent a racist meme following the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

More recently, the agency abruptly transferred most, if not all, of its Internal Affairs investigators to new assignments at barracks across the state. It attributed the move, and the simultaneous replacement of Internal Affairs’ commanding officers, as part of its “plans to rebuild and strengthen our IAD to provide quality and timely services.”

Michal Shinnar, an attorney representing the troopers of color alleging racial discrimination by the agency, said agency records reflected that the investigation found Grinnan had “engaged in serious sexual misconduct and abuse of his power as a police officer.”

“MSP ignored these findings and allowed Officer Grinnan to keep his job,” Shinnar said. “What we allege in our class- action complaint, and what we know from numerous troopers, is that troopers of color are terminated for far less serious offenses, including matters related to time-keeping or what are at best characterized as minor infractions.”

‘There’s no going back now’

Before Grinnan and the other trooper went undercover Sept. 30, 2019, three different law enforcement officers were sent undercover into the West Ocean City spa.

The evidence the initial three gathered was sufficient to prepare a search warrant, according to the Internal Affairs report, but task force officers opted to send in two additional officers. That way, they figured, the employees inside could be taken into custody immediately.

That final operation was marred by inappropriate remarks by Grinnan before, during and after the operation, according to the Internal Affairs investigators, who interviewed witnesses, primarily fellow state police troopers. Grinnan would later dispute several of the remarks that his fellow officers recalled him saying.

For instance, during the briefing, witnesses said Grinnan made a remark about how he was 44 years old and married, and that if someone other than his wife wanted to touch him, he’d let them.

Grinnan later, in his interrogation with Internal Affairs, said he’d said he’s 44 and “if you’re gonna send me in there with somebody half my age, it’s on.” He told investigators he never said he planned to let them touch him.

Inside the spa room, he appeared nude twice on the video being sent by a cellphone that also was recording audio for evidence, according to the report. Another lead investigator, assigned to the Worcester County Bureau of Investigations, who reviewed the footage, said he was “smirking about it” the entire time.

When the massage employee left briefly, he said, according to a transcript, “Think she’s ready for this?”

Grinnan said in his interrogation he didn’t recall saying that, but “he guessed he could have,” investigators wrote.

In the room, Grinnan discussed prices for different sexual acts with a woman before saying he’d “just take” the massage. But moments later, audio footage captured Grinnan saying “feels good,” according to an Internal Affairs report that includes the transcript of a recording.

In his interrogation, Grinnan said he didn’t remember saying “feels good” but acknowledged that he did complete a sexual act. He said that after first saying no, he didn’t stop the woman when she approached him again because he didn’t want to endanger himself or the other trooper. He described the experience as creepy and gross, saying he “got caught and wasn’t prepared.”

The Internal Affairs investigator wrote in a summary of the interrogation: “No one told him he was allowed to or gave him permission to go through with a sexual act, and he acknowledged [a lead investigator] instructed them to decline any sexual acts. He also acknowledged he violated MDSP policy by engaging in a sexual act and failing to make an immediate arrest.”

“He did not believe it was an intentional act and said he did not know what to do,” the investigator continued. “He said he got caught in a spot he was not prepared to be in and had ‘zero training.’ ”

The Internal Affairs investigators wrote in the report that Grinnan took a Cialis pill, a prescription medication for erectile dysfunction, outside the business. One witness remembered him saying, as he took the pill, “There’s no going back now,” according to the report.

In the interrogation, Grinnan argued that he did so because it would have been a “mission fail” for him to go in and “not function.” He said a lead investigator had joked, earlier, about how previous undercover officers couldn’t get erections. Grinnan figured, he explained to the interrogator, he would take care of that by taking the pill.

Before later admitting his participation in the sex act, he avoided directly answering questions about what happened inside, according to the Internal Affairs report. He told people the amount of money he’d paid — $140 — and told others to “do the math.” Others on the task force knew the base massage rate was $80, and extras, in the form of sexual acts, cost more.

When an investigator asked if he’d declined the employee’s offer, Grinnan responded jokingly, according to the investigative report, “I’ll never tell.”

Several witnesses recalled that after the sting operation, Grinnan bragged about having been seen nude in the video recording by a female investigator and the Worcester County state’s attorney, who is also a woman. At least one person recalled him saying he had only “one goal” when he knew they’d be monitoring the investigation video — to show them his genitalia. Others recalled him demonstrating how he’d positioned himself in front of the recording device.

The other trooper who went undercover at the spa also was investigated for potential policy violations but investigators did not recommend sustaining any for him. Investigators determined that after the woman asked if he wanted a sexual favor, he slid off the table and told her he needed to get money, leaving the spa.

‘Absolutely inappropriate’

The state’s attorney for Worcester County, Kristin Heiser, confirmed to The Baltimore Sun that no criminal charges went forward against either of the women initially apprehended at the massage parlor, nor anyone else connected with the investigation.

Heiser said the investigation had been “compromised by the misconduct of one undercover police officer” and that, as result, she had determined “prosecution would not serve the interests of justice.”

The charges against the two women were dismissed on Dec. 6, 2019, according to the Internal Affairs report; the criminal case has since been expunged.

Grinnan faced no criminal charges for his actions, despite at least five of the 12 investigators or supervisors interviewed by the state police saying they believed his actions constituted a criminal act.

At least two employees that Internal Affairs interviewed during its investigation defended Grinnan’s actions.

One, a high-ranking lieutenant named Robert Phillips, compared it with an undercover narcotics operation where detectives are told to “complete the deal.”

“When someone, a stranger’s grabbing your stuff,” Phillips told an investigator, “you don’t know how you’re gonna react.”

Phillips said he did not know for sure that Grinnan intentionally exposed himself on the surveillance video but had heard joking about it. He acknowledged it would be “absolutely inappropriate” if he did that with a woman monitoring him, but then added “we’re cops.”

The lieutenant told investigators he didn’t believe Grinnan’s actions were criminal because there was no intent. He said he believed Grinnan went into the spa to make a case and see it through, the Internal Affairs summary said, and that he didn’t agree it was an intentional sex act. He said he had wanted to see an alternative disciplinary process for Grinnan that could have been resolved quickly.

The other, a detective sergeant who said he’d known Grinnan for almost 18 years, criticized the number of undercover law enforcement officers sent into the establishment, suggesting the case already had been made. He added that “if” Grinnan did complete a sex act, he would wonder why that occurred.

An Internal Affairs report summarizes the conversation: “He gave the example of purchasing drugs from a suspect and feeling threatened or being in a position by yourself causing you to feel like you had to consume the drugs so you or your fellow officer did not get hurt.”

Others vehemently disagreed.

The lead investigator assigned to the Worcester County Bureau of Investigations told Internal Affairs during her interview that she believed Grinnan “knew exactly what he was doing,” based on his comments and demeanor on the day of the operation.

“I can’t imagine another police officer destroying someone else’s case on purpose,” she said.

A sergeant who helped train Grinnan, and said he’d had previous issues with him, told investigators he believed that the entire chain of command was trying to minimize what Grinnan did, according to a summary of his interrogation.

He added that investigators would never be allowed to go through with any sexual act — “just because they are allowed to buy drugs, MSP does not give them permission to use them.”

Have a news tip? Contact Darcy Costello at dcostello@baltsun.com, 443-788-5157 and x.com/dctello.