Rape Victim Comes to Police Station for Help and Cop Insists on Using His Cellphone To Film Her Private Parts — Lawsuit

A rape victim went to the police for "help" and instead she gets
this guy.

By Erin Mcauley
A Pennsylvania police officer took "inappropriate, gratuitous" photographs on his cellphone of the victim of a sexual assault, she claims in Federal Court.

Though the June 26 lawsuit identifies both the plaintiff and the Coraopolis police officer she says subjected her to the invasive search, Courthouse News has redacted these names in light of the sensitive nature of the allegations.

The plaintiff says she was 20 years old at the time of the incident.

She allegedly took herself to the hospital for a rape kit after blacking out on June 27, 2013, possibly because of a date-rape drug, and waking up "in the street wearing nothing but a size 4x T shirt which did not belong to her, bikini bottoms, shorts, and bare feet."

A Coraopolis police officer at the hospital where the plaintiff was examined and photographed directed the woman to report to the police station the next day, according to the complaint.

The plaintiff says this roughly 40-year-old officer was "on duty and in full uniform" when she arrived at the station.

After taking her to an investigation room, the officer began questioning the woman about the incident and taking photographs of her with his personal cellphone, according to the complaint.

Waving off questions about his actions, Barger allegedly said that the police department camera was broken.

The plaintiff says she was intimidated by and was uncomfortable with the officer inquiring about bruising on her breasts but felt obligated to submit to his requests.

Though the plaintiff allegedly told the officer repeatedly that there were no marks on or near her breasts, the officer pulled on her shirt to make her show him, she says.

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