On heels of shooting, Sacramento police blasted with sexual misconduct allegation

After a fatal shooting of an unarmed person, the department is now facing a lawsuit from a woman claiming sexual abuse from an officer

Kia Morgan-Smith

Mar 26, 2018

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The Sacramento police department, still reeling from weekend protests over the killing of an unarmed Black man, Stephon Clark, was hit with a sexual abuse lawsuit Friday alleging that an officer fondled and sexually molested a Black woman.

Candida Johnson filed a lawsuit in federal court accusing retired police officer Patrick Mulligan of sexual molestation stemming from a 2016 cell phone theft arrest, according to the Sacramento Bee.

Officer refutes accusation

Johnson is claiming that Mulligan groped her bra and groin and molested her. However, Mulligan denied the allegations. “That’s completely false,” he said. “That’s not even close to anything like that happening.”

“What I can tell you is, that never happened,” Mulligan, 51, said in a telephone interview. “That never happened in my 31 years of law enforcement.”

Mulligan, a 27-year veteran with the department, retired last February. He told the newspaper that while he recalls the arrest, he refutes the sexual abuse claim.

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But according to the explosive lawsuit obtained by the SacBee, during the 2016 arrest it states:

“While Ms. Johnson was with him (Mulligan) he ordered her to lift up her shirt to expose her breasts,” the suit alleges. “He then violently grabbed Ms. Johnson by her bra and lifted the bra up over her breasts.

“Officer Mulligan told Ms. Johnson to stand up against a vehicle. He then proceeded to squeeze her breasts and he ran his hands in between her legs.

“Mulligan drove Johnson to the Sacramento County Jail for booking, and during the drive taunted and intimidated Ms. Johnson,” the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit also alleges that Mulligan forcibly penetrated Johnson with his finger after pulling down her underwear.

“Ms. Johnson asked officer Mulligan ‘why was he doing this?'” the suit says. “He responded that he was checking to see if Ms. Johnson had any drugs in her.”

Johnson did not respond to requests for comment on Sunday, the Bee reported.

Sacramento Under Fire

The allegations come on the heels of the shooting death of Clark, 22, who was fatally shot by officers March 18, who were responding to reports of someone breaking into a car. The officers pursued him into the backyard of his grandparents’ home, firing 20 shots at him, only to find that he was holding a cellphone.

Bodycam footage later released showed the incident and led to recent local protests that shut down Interstate 5 in the city and disrupted the Sacramento Kings game last week.

Clark family attorney Benjamin Crump has scheduled a news conference on Monday to address the shooting.