The Atlanta Police Department has a pattern of “ignoring sexual predators in its own ranks,” a Gwinnett County family alleges in a new federal lawsuit, after they say their teenage daughter was forced to give oral sex to an officer while he drove her home.
Former Officer Anthony Anderson pleaded guilty to improper sexual contact in January and is serving six years in prison. In an August 2023 incident, the family says he called off first responders to the scene of the girl’s car crash and “took more sinister action,” taking her to a remote location and forcing her into a sexual encounter.
The officer was “emboldened and empowered” to take advantage of the teenager because of alleged negligent management of the police department by its leadership, the family said in the lawsuit. That leadership, including Chief Darin Schierbaum and his predecessors, has created an environment at the department that fosters predatory behavior, according to the suit.
The complaint details eight other instances in which Atlanta officers were accused of sexual assault, citing public records from internal investigations and court proceedings.
For example, the lawsuit cites the 2022 conviction of former Atlanta officer Lionel Dely, who was accused of flashing his badge before sexually assaulting a woman inside her Cherokee County home. Dely, who was labeled a serial rapist by prosecutors during his trial, was found guilty of rape and violation of oath by a public officer and sentenced to 50 years in prison.
“These repeated violations of Atlanta residents’ civil rights and personal dignity is the necessary outcome of a culture of impunity supported and facilitated at every level,” the family said in the suit.
The family accuses the state’s largest police department of negligent hiring practices, and says instances of sexual misconduct by officers are often handled internally and concealed from the public.
The family also contends the department fails to adequately investigate civilian complaints, particularly those related to sexual violence, until or unless the district attorney‘s office decides to take criminal action, citing statements from the department itself on the issue.
Atlanta’s police chief has said the department no longer waits for the district attorney’s office to decide whether to charge officers before it does an internal affairs investigation and doles out discipline. That’s a change that took place last August, Schierbaum said.
The department declined to comment on the lawsuit, citing its policy on staying mum on pending litigation, and did not immediately respond to questions about what’s being done to prevent improper sexual contact between its officers and civilians.
The lawsuit says the teen’s “entire life has been upended and permanently damaged” by her encounter with Anderson, which her attorneys say caused severe trauma and mental anguish.
The girl still needs significant professional and psychological support as she prepares to graduate high school, the family said in the suit.
The family is seeking a damages payment in an unspecified amount, including punitive damages designed to prevent future similar conduct and so-called treble damages, or triple the amount of what a jury decides is the cost.
The family said the incident occurred Aug. 2, 2023, after Anderson encountered the teen’s totaled car along I-20 in Atlanta.
The girl’s airbags deployed during her crash, and she had injuries to her face, back and neck stemming from the single-vehicle wreck, according to the lawsuit.
Anderson, who was returning from an off-duty assignment that morning, dropped the girl off at a gas station along Martin Luther King Jr. Drive about 3:30 a.m., returned his squad car to the station and came back later in his own vehicle, according to the suit.
There, the teen waited “scared, vulnerable, and alone,” her family said in the suit.
Under the pretense of offering to drive her home, attorneys said Anderson took a detour and drove to a secluded area, where he forced the then-16-year-old to perform oral sex on him.
He later dropped her off at the curb in front of her parents’ house without notifying her family, according to the lawsuit.
The next day was the teen’s first day of classes for the school year, and there was a schoolwide presentation about sexual assault against minors, according to the filing. The teen then told a guidance counselor what happened to her hours earlier, prompting a call to the student’s parents and the Gwinnett County Police Department, attorneys said.
During their investigation, Gwinnett police contacted the APD’s open records unit, according to the suit. By coincidence, the employee who answered the phone was Anderson’s fiancée, according to the filing.
The lawsuit alleges that employee impeded the inquiry into her fiancé’s conduct by refusing to provide relevant information and denying that such information was in the department’s possession.
Anderson, who resigned amid the subsequent investigation, was arrested on charges that included aggravated sodomy, aggravated sexual battery and cruelty to children.
Following the officer’s arrest, Schierbaum said he was disturbed by the allegations, which he said eroded the trust the community puts in law enforcement.
“We ask the public to trust us to do the right thing, to keep them safe. So, when one of our own is accused of despicable acts with a minor, it erodes that trust that sometimes takes years to build,” Schierbaum said at the time.
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
In January, Anderson pleaded guilty as a first offender to improper sexual contact by an employee or agent, making false statements or writings, and violating his oath of office, court records show. As part of his negotiated plea deal, he was sentenced to 25 years, with the first six to serve in prison and the remainder on probation.
Anderson’s defense attorney in his criminal case, LaDawn Blackett Jones, was appointed earlier this year as Atlanta’s interim inspector general. The change came after former Inspector General Shannon Manigault resigned from her role in February amid a bitter feud with Mayor Andre Dickens’ administration over the office’s authority.
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