A Fayetteville police detective was fired over messages sent to rape victims, but authorities say that didn't stop him

The Fayetteville Police Department has fired a detective who is accused of making inappropriate advances toward women through social media while serving as the investigator on their rape cases.

Posted 6:14 p.m. Jan 15, 2020 — Updated 12:25 a.m. Jan 16, 2020

Gilbert Baez

, WRAL Fayetteville reporter

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — A Fayetteville police detective fired last year over inappropriate messages sent to women who had been raped has been charged with later tapping into a police department database to obtain information about the women.

Paul George Matrafailo III, 34, of 2816 Ally Rayven Drive, was arrested Monday on a felony charge of unauthorized access of government computers.

Matrafailo was terminated by the Fayetteville Police Department on May 7 after three women complained that he had sent them sexual messages via text or social media. All three women had been raped, and Matrafailo was handling their cases as part of the police department's Crisis Intervention Team.

According to the State Bureau of Investigation, Matrafailo's user name and password to the police department's records system wasn't disabled upon his termination because of a clerical error. On May 20, he used those credentials to log into the database "to search for information pertain (sic) to victims of cases he had investigated," an SBI agent wrote on a case worksheet.

Neither the Fayetteville police nor the SBI would comment Wednesday.

Erin Myers, one of the rape victims whose cases were assigned to Matrafailo, said he had access to all of her personal information, and she's glad he's finally facing charges.

"I'm a little bit relieved that the SBI actually took this seriously and followed through with their investigation," Myers said. "I'm a little disappointed because it's probably going to be just a slap on the wrist, and you know, it's not going to change the fact he still is a predator."

WRAL News typically doesn't identify sexual assault victims, but Myers agreed to speak publicly about her case.

Cumberland County District Attorney Billy West said the charge against Matrafailo doesn't close the case on his actions while still a law enforcement officer.

"We certainly respect [the women's] courage in coming forward, and we're going to do what we can to get justice in this matter, because people have to trust law enforcement and the justice system," West said.

West said he requested that Matrafailo's bond be increased, but the judge rejected that. Matrafailo was released on a $1,000 unsecured bond.

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