NEW ORLEANS — A federal civil rights trial got underway here Monday to determine if the city of New Orleans is responsible for the sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl by a police officer. The officer first met the girl when he transported her to the hospital for a rape kit, then offered to mentor her.
and
The case comes at a time when New Orleans officials are working to end a consent decree with the Justice Department that has kept its police department under federal monitoring for more than a decade. Now, a jury will further scrutinize the department’s selection and supervision of its officers.
The trial, which is expected to last four days, will center on a former New Orleans Police Department patrol officer named Rodney Vicknair, who died in prison earlier this year after being diagnosed with brain cancer. Vicknair served less than six months of a 14-year sentence after pleading guilty to violating the teenager’s rights under the color of law.
The Washington Post does not identify victims of sexual assault without their consent. With her permission, The Post is referring to the teen by her middle name, Nicole.
Nicole, now 19 years old, filed a lawsuit against the city in 2021 for what she and her lawyers claimed was a failure by NOPD to supervise Vicknair and properly vet him before he was hired. A trial was previously scheduled for March, but was delayed by a federal judge hours after a Post investigation into the case was published.
The Post’s reporting showed that the highest-ranking NOPD official, then-Superintendent Shaun Ferguson, was texted about “potential abuse of a minor by an officer” five days before Vicknair locked Nicole in his truck and assaulted her in 2020.
Citing The Post’s investigation, Judge Carl J. Barbier reversed his previous dismissal of Nicole’s claim that the department had failed to properly supervise Vicknair. Ferguson, who admitted in a deposition that he did not recall taking any action after being alerted to a potential child sex crime, is expected to testify this week.
Attorneys for the city declined to comment, citing pending litigation. They have repeatedly denied that the department is liable for the abuse, arguing that Vicknair was not on duty at the time of the assault he pleaded guilty to and was not acting on behalf of NOPD “while performing any of the inappropriate actions alleged against him.”
Vicknair is among more than 1,800 officers identified in The Post’s investigation who were charged with crimes involving child sexual abuse from 2005 through 2022.
Law enforcement agencies across the country have done little to address the risk of child predators in their midst, The Post found. As police departments face staffing shortages and struggle to hire, there are no universal requirements to screen for potential perpetrators.
Without policies governing what behavior with kids is appropriate, officers can exchange private messages and be alone with kids without breaking any rules. When abuse is suspected, officers are sometimes allowed to remain on the job while investigations of their behavior are left in the hands of their colleagues.
Jurors will also hear testimony about Vicknair’s background. Records show he was hired despite an arrest for aggravated assault charges and a conviction for battery on a juvenile — a conviction that three of his family members told The Post was the result of a previous sexual relationship with a minor.
City attorneys have defended the department’s vetting process as thorough but have admitted in court filings that Vicknair’s battery on a juvenile conviction did not appear on his background check when he was hired in 2007.
In May 2020, 53-year-old Vicknair was dispatched to the home of 14-year-old Nicole after she reported being sexually assaulted by a friend. Although a sex crimes detective was assigned to the case, it was Vicknair, a regular patrol officer, who spent hours with Nicole and her mother in the hospital as they waited for a rape examination.
During that time, Vicknair showed Nicole multiple photos of a young woman dressed only in lingerie, took a picture of her without her consent and gave her his personal cellphone number. His actions were recorded by his body camera and observed by another officer.
Vicknair repeatedly called, texted and visited Nicole that summer. Nicole’s trust in Vicknair, she said, turned to fear as he began touching and threatening her.
“I try to keep him happy,” Nicole eventually told a forensic interviewer, according to a videotaped recording obtained by The Post. “He’s a cop, so it’s not like he’s going to get in trouble for any of this.”
After Nicole’s mother discovered a photo of Vicknair pressing the teen into his body, she reported her concerns about the officer to Nicole’s therapist, who contacted the Office of the Independent Police Monitor, a civilian oversight agency that responds to complaints about police officers.
Susan Hutson was leading the oversight agency at the time. Hutson, who is now the Orleans Parish Sheriff, testified in a deposition that along with contacting NOPD’s internal affairs division, she texted and spoke on the phone with Ferguson, making it clear that there was an urgent danger and that “something needs to be done.”
Though she did not yet know the last name of the officer involved, she told Ferguson that his first name was Rodney. At the time, there were only three NOPD employees named Rodney, according to court filings.
No investigation was opened until three days later, on a Monday. While the investigation was ongoing, Vicknair was not removed from duty. Two days later, Vicknair visited Nicole while on duty, then returned to her house after work.
That night, Vicknair later admitted, he locked the doors to his vehicle so she could not leave and touched her under her clothing. He also admitted to groping her on other occasions and requesting and receiving sexually explicit photos of her. Nicole has since stated in court filings that Vicknair assaulted her four times, two of which were in uniform.
In the New Orleans Police Department, Vicknair was the sixth officer convicted of crimes involving child abuse since 2011.
“We have had a number of incidents in the past that should have alerted the authorities here — elected officials and those in the police department — this is a chronic issue locally as well as nationally,” said Mary Howell, a renowned civil rights attorney in New Orleans.
Months of negotiations between Nicole’s attorneys and the city have failed to result in a settlement agreement, even after the judge ruled in February that the city was vicariously liable for the state law torts of assault, battery and false imprisonment by Vicknair. The maximum amount of damages a jury could award Nicole for those claims is $500,000.
If a jury sides with Nicole on her federal civil rights claims of negligent hiring and improper supervision, there would be no specified limit to the amount of compensation she could receive.
Nicole is expected to testify this week, recounting a summer that forever altered her view of law enforcement. Though she has moved out of Louisiana, she has said she hoped her lawsuit would force New Orleans to reexamine how its officers are allowed to interact with vulnerable kids.
In a deposition earlier this year, an NOPD sergeant testified that the department has not changed any policies or training methods to prevent “another Officer Vicknair.”
