Two months after a woman sued the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office over claims that a deputy pursued her online and offered to pay for sexually explicit photos of her the county has agreed to settle the lawsuit, her lawyer says.
Sacramento civil rights attorney Mark Merin said the county agreed to settle the lawsuit, which originally asked for more than $1 million in damages, for a $40,000 payment.
“This is an example of the way things should work,” Merin said Thursday after his office filed court papers seeking to dismiss the suit.
Merin said conversations with the county’s claims administrator led to a fairly quick agreement to settle the case. Merin’s office has handled numerous lawsuits against law enforcement and other entities ranging into settlements of millions of dollars.
This case involved a suicidal 21-year-old woman, identified in court papers as “Jane Doe,” who accused Deputy Patrick Walker of inappropriate contact after he responded to a call for help for her last July.
The lawsuit said the contacts included discussion by Walker of a sexual relationship with her, as well as an offer to pay her for “sexually explicit photographs and recordings.”
The suit also said Walker sent photos of himself to the woman while in uniform inside the Sheriff’s Office locker room “to gain her trust” and badgered her for photos of herself.
The Sheriff’s Office has said an internal affairs investigation of the claims was underway.