BY DONNIE JOHNSTON
A former middle-school teacher and his girlfriend have filed federal lawsuits accusing Culpeper police officers of viewing and distributing nude photos of the woman found on the teacher’s cell phone after he was arrested for DUI.
The suits claim that officers also sent out calls on the police radio inviting other officers to come in and look at the photos.
Nathan Newhard, 32, and Jessie Casella, 23, each filed complaints in federal district court in Charlottesville naming former Sgt. Matt Borders, police Chief Scott Barlow, “unnamed Town of Culpeper police officers” and the Town of Culpeper Police Department as defendants. The lawsuits allege that the actions in March 2008 violated their civil rights and right to privacy. Each of the plaintiffs is seeking $350,000 in punitive damages, as well as unspecified compensatory damages.
Chief Barlow said Borders resigned from the force Dec. 31. He said today that the town has not been served with a notice of the lawsuits and he could not comment on them.
But the chief said the town received and investigated an internal complaint and he was “confident that we handled the complaint appropriately and professionally.”
For more on this story, read Thursday’s Free Lance–Star.
Donnie Johnston:
djohnston@freelancestar.com