Four Texas female deputies who were assigned to the sex crime units in Harris County allege they were being sexually exploited, molested and harassed by their superiors, according to a federal civil lawsuit filed Monday.
The lawsuit, first reported by CNN, claims that female officers Liz Gomez, Marissa Sanchez, Felecia McKinney and Jacquelyn Aluotto — all assigned to the human trafficking task force— were rookie deputies when they were “handpicked” for undercover operations, “molested and traumatized by their intoxicated male commanding officers for their own sexual gratification.”
“And when the deputies reported the abuse to supervisors, they were ridiculed, retaliated against and reassigned to less prestigious duties,” the lawsuit alleges.
Aluotto, who is now a human trafficking advocate, says she reported the alleged abuse, too, and was subsequently transferred out of the human trafficking task force.
The lawsuit names Harris County Precinct 1 Constable Alan Rosen, assistant chief Chris Gore and Lieutenant Shane Rigdon, along with Harris County as defendants.
According to the lawsuit, Gore set up “bachelor party” stings at hotel rooms and had male undercover deputies pose as Johns and female undercover deputies pose as prostitutes. Gore selected the female deputies based on his “personal taste in women — young, attractive, and Latina.”
Per the lawsuit “Gomez was selected for the undercover operations in 2019 and was instructed to purchase new and revealing clothing” for the operations and then send Gore, her superior, a text message with photos of the outfits.
“That’s not slutty enough,” Gore responded via text message while instructing that “more provocative” clothing be purchased. Gomez was also ordered to accompany Gore to an adult sex shop to buy various items, all paid for with county dollars, The lawsuit alleges.
The alcohol for the sting “parties” was also purchased on the county dime, per the lawsuit; and they quickly turned into a “booze-fueled playground for sexual exploitation,” the lawsuit claims.
“Rosen created and oversaw the ‘bachelor party’ unit which subjected untrained subordinate officers to sexual contact from their commanding officers,” the lawsuit stated.
All three plaintiff deputies claim that they didn’t receive training, preparation or warning about how physical their superiors would be with them; which at times included “fondling,” “kissing and licking their bodies.”
“Gomez would be fighting back the urge to break down in tears,” the lawsuit says.
One of the women also alleges she was ordered to participate in a separate sting at a massage parlor that resulted in sexual assault. After the sting, she drove herself to get a sexual assault exam and has since been under the care of a therapist and trauma specialist, per the lawsuit.
The women claim that after they reported the alleged abuses up the chain of command, they were retaliated against, ridiculed, threatened to be assigned additional undercover operations — which would result in more abuse — or to be transferred out of the human trafficking unit.
“We want to send a message,” Aluotto said during a news conference Monday. “This can never happen again.”
