Lawsuit claims former Sunset Beach police officer engaged in sexual misconduct while on duty
A Sunset Beach woman is suing a former town police officer and the town, alleging sexual misconduct by the officer was mishandled by town officials.
In a civil lawsuit filed in February, the plaintiff alleges “repeated sexual advances” and “sexual coercion” by a former Sunset Beach Police Department officer in 2020 while he was employed as a uniformed police officer with the town. The accused officer and the town deny many of the woman's claims.
In the lawsuit, the alleged victim claims these incidents began after the officer stopped her in January 2020 for driving without a license. According to the lawsuit, the officer initially issued the woman a ticket for the offense before he “wielded his authority to arrest her over the nine months that followed.”
The StarNews typically does not name victims of alleged sexual assault.
The woman claims the officer “repeatedly abused his position as a police officer by sexually intimidating and coercing” her. The lawsuit alleges the officer engaged in “inappropriate and explicit” communications with the plaintiff, exposed himself to her and “forced her to have sexual intercourse with him in exchange for not arresting her or charging her for criminal activity.”
According to the Sunset Beach Police Department, the officer began their full-time employment with the department around October 2019. The department said the officer is a veteran of the Marine Corps. According to the lawsuit, the officer was employed by the Sunset Beach Police Department until October 2020.
The plaintiff said the officer watched her from the parking lot of the Sunset Beach Police Department while she was working across the street on “multiple occasions” while the officer was on duty. According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff contacted the department’s assistant chief in spring 2020 to make a complaint, which she was assured would be addressed.
In the lawsuit, she claims no such action was taken following her complaint, an “inaction and tolerance for this conduct” that allowed the officer to “escalate his predation.”
The plaintiff claims the officer’s conduct escalated to include stalking, running license plates of her visitors and repeatedly exposing his genitals to her. The plaintiff said she “believed she had to silently endure [the officer's] continuous advances because he regularly dangled the threat of arresting her to force her compliance.”
The plaintiff said the officer then demanded she have sex with him – a demand she felt she had “no meaningful choice but to submit” to. The woman claims she experienced humiliation, shame, depression, anxiety, sleeplessness, hopelessness, helplessness and other emotional distress following the officer's alleged conduct.
The lawsuit also lists the town of Sunset Beach as a defendant, as the plaintiff claims the town was aware of the alleged conduct by the officer and “did nothing to investigate, suspend or otherwise intervene.”
The plaintiff claims she reported the conduct to officers at the nearby Ocean Isle Beach Police Department, at which time Sunset Beach officials investigated and took his badge.
Former officer admits sexual conduct, claims consent
In his response to the original complaint, the accused officer denied many of the plaintiff’s allegations. In the response, filed in March, the officer admitted that he stopped the plaintiff and cited her for driving with a suspended license, but denies many of the other allegations in the complaint.
Namely, the officer denies watching the plaintiff from the police department, requesting nude photos from the plaintiff and forcing the plaintiff to engage in sexual intercourse.
The officer admitted he stopped by the plaintiff’s house on occasion, texted her nude photos of himself, and engaged in sexual intercourse with the plaintiff on one occasion. The officer claims the sexual intercourse was consensual and occurred while he was on duty.
Town denies allegations
In its separate response to the original complaint, the town of Sunset Beach denies the plaintiff’s allegations.
“It is specifically denied that the town acted in any wrongful manner, or is responsible or liable to the plaintiff in any fashion as alleged,” the town stated in its response, filed in April.
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The town’s response also denies the plaintiff’s claims regarding the officer’s actions, as well as her claim that the town was aware of his alleged behavior. Specifically, the town denies the plaintiff ever made a complaint to the Sunset Beach Police Department while the officer was employed by the town.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. The woman is seeking damages against both the officer and the town, and she has demanded a jury trial.
Jamey Cross covers Brunswick County for the StarNews. Reach her at jbcross@gannett.com or message her on Twitter @jameybcross.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Sunset Beach resident accuses former police officer of sexual misconduct
