A police officer has resigned after it emerged that she’d been working as a porn star to make ends meet.
Shannon Lofland performed in half a dozen sex scenes before Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office in Colorado discovered her side gig.
The 44-year-old – who ran the department’s driving academy – said rising debt, high interest rates and spiralling costs left her needing extra money.
She didn’t inform her employer and resigned last week after 21 years of service.
She told CBS News Colorado: ‘I was desperate, I was drowning.
‘I found a legal, lucrative means for providing that support for my family that I needed at that time to save my home for them and feed my family.’
The sheriff’s office began an internal investigation after learning about her second job — which Lofland said she’d only worked for about a month.
Lofland resigned last Tuesday before the investigation finished.
She admitted her actions had likely broken internal regulations that require advance authorisation for side jobs.
She said: ‘I know that, and I knew that … it could be considered a double life.
‘There are many deputies and officers doing what they can to make extra money, with or without permission. People are doing what they can to survive at this time.’
The mother’s financial worries began last June when a storm left her home with $500,000 of damage that she said the insurance company wouldn’t cover.
Rising interest rates later tripled her mortgage on top of which she had to contend with increasing utility, gas and food costs.
She’d drained her savings, borrowed money from her family and cut spending, she told CBS. But the debt collectors kept calling.
‘My actions have been made out of desperation,’ Lofland said, adding that her husband supported her decision.
‘Some may judge and say there are ‘better’ ways to make money, but at the time I had no other lucrative means for doing so.’
She said she made enough money to cover the mortgage, and the industry was ‘professional’ enough that she never experienced any pressure or coercion.
The sheriff’s office declined to comment ‘due to privacy and due process issues’, according to CBS.
Despite resigning, Lofland said she loved her job and all the work she did over more than two decades.
‘I found my niche in the law enforcement world as a support role,’ she said.
‘I have been dedicated and loyal. I truly enjoy what I do and all of the lives I have been able to touch.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].
For more stories like this, check our news page.
MORE: Man arrested at McDonald’s ‘person of interest’ in UnitedHealthcare CEO killing
MORE: UnitedHealthcare gunman lookalike contest held days after CEO was shot dead
MORE: Mayor says police ‘know’ name of UnitedHealthcare suspect, but won’t release it