E. David Christine, Jr., District Attorney of Monroe County, and Chief Christopher Wagner, Chief of Police for the Pocono Mountain Regional Police Department, announced the arrest Steven Mertz, 53, formerly a corporal with the Pocono Mountain Regional Police Department at a press conference held today at the headquarters of Criminal Investigation Division of the District Attorney’s Office.

Mertz was arrested by detectives from the District Attorney’s Criminal Investigation Division and charged with rape and other sexual offenses, as well as offenses related to bribery and official oppression, stemming from an encounter with a female driver on Wednesday, October 16, 2019.

Mertz is charged with compelling the female victim to perform sexual acts with him in exchange for him not filing charges after her arrest for DUI.

Mertz was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Colleen Mancuso and placed in the Monroe County Correctional Facility on $50,000 bail.