Two women filed separate federal civil lawsuits this month against a former Baton Rouge police officer who was arrested on kidnapping, sexual battery and obscenity charges last September.
The complaints were filed July 3 in the Middle District of Louisiana, naming as defendants former Officer Wade Hill, the Baton Rouge Police Department and Chief Murphy Paul, who retired from his position this week. The plaintiffs allege numerous torts, including false imprisonment, assault, abuse of process and malicious prosecution.
In one case, the plaintiff was arrested by Hill over a domestic disturbance allegation. She was eventually taken to a private residence where the officer coerced her into having sex with him in exchange for dropping the charges, according to the lawsuit.
In the other case, the plaintiff was arrested by Hill after the officer responded to a trespassing call. The woman was driven around, subjected to inappropriate sexual touching and eventually taken to a residence where Hill performed a sex act in front of her, the lawsuit states.
The complaints accuse the police department and the city of facilitating misconduct and abetting violations of constitutional rights.
The plaintiffs’ attorney, Ronald Haley Jr., said the police chief has taken steps to prevent such incidents from happening in the future, such as providing ways to track police officers’ movements by GPS technology.
“I think that creates a level of accountability,” Haley told the Louisiana Record. “... When he was made aware of these allegations, he immediately went full-throttle into opening … a very thorough investigation.”
The attorney said he expects more victims to come forward. In both of the cases described in the litigation, the plaintiffs were arrested for relatively minor incidents that could have been dealt with through a summons rather than formal arrests, according to Haley.
Some issues related to the criminal case against Hill need to be resolved before the civil actions can fully move forward, he said.
“There are certain things we will be able to get done during the criminal process, but we will not be able to go full-throttle before that process is over,” Haley said.
A request for comment to the Baton Rouge Police Department went unanswered.