A Katy, Texas, Woman Files a Federal Lawsuit Claiming she was Raped in Harris County Jail
A 26-year-old mother of two from Katy, Texas, was pulled over near her home by Katy Independent School District Police Officers on March 1, 2018. According to the woman, the officers called a drug-sniffing dog to the scene. A half-gram of marijuana was allegedly discovered in her car, which she says she admitted she had. She was then told she would be going to jail. After being booked into Harris County Jail, the woman alleges that she was placed alone in a holding cell and that a jailer entered her cell a few hours later. She says he handcuffed her and raped her, saying he would do it again if she said anything. The woman reported the alleged rape the following day, after she had been released from jail and went to an area hospital, where a rape kit was collected. She was placed on a regimen of medication for treatment of possible exposure to HIV. She has filed a federal lawsuit in regards to these alleged events.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office announced that if evidence supports the accusation, strong, swift action would be taken. Five defendants have been named in the civil rights lawsuit, though the person who allegedly raped the woman is not among them.
One point of contention is where the traffic stop occurred. The alleged victim claims that the law enforcement officers pulled her over outside the school zone, in which case she should have received a citation and been released. Instead, she claims that she was wrongfully arrested.
In 2013, a study by the U.S. Department of Justice revealed that one of the worst sexual assault rates in the nation occurred in one of the units of the Harris County Jail.
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