A federal lawsuit filed in Tennessee accuses Johnson City police officers of accepting thousands of dollars from a businessman to obstruct investigations into allegations that he sexually assaulted multiple women. The lawsuit claims that the officers shielded the businessman, Sean Williams, allowing him to continue his criminal activities unchecked. Williams is currently facing state and federal charges related to child rape, sexual battery, exploitation, and drug distribution. The lawsuit also alleges that Williams’ business partner laundered money to pay off the officers, using shell companies and forged documents.
The lawyers representing the women filing the lawsuit provided evidence for a federal public corruption investigation into the police department. Despite the denial of allegations by the city and the officers involved, the lawsuit points to banking records supporting the extortion claims. The lawsuit also alleges that Williams sent messages from jail describing the extortion scheme, which involved weekly payments to officers using fraudulent documents.
The city has expressed openness to an investigation to dispel any claims of corruption. Meanwhile, former prosecutor Kateri Lynne Dahl has filed a separate lawsuit against the city, accusing the police of failing to investigate Williams despite credible accusations of drug dealing and sexual assault. The lawsuit sheds light on a series of failures within the police department’s response to sexual assault cases. A federal sex trafficking investigation has also been opened in response to the public outcry over the handling of these cases. The city has begun implementing changes to improve the department’s performance in response to the findings of a third-party audit.
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