A federal judge has greenlit a class action lawsuit against Johnson City and its police force that makes allegations that some police officers took bribes and turned the other way while a serial rapist assaulted scores of women and at least two children.
The ruling Friday raises the stakes in a police corruption scandal that has roiled the Northeast Tennessee community — and the city’s potential liability should it lose or settle the case.
Instead of 10 plaintiffs, identified as “Jane Does” in a lawsuit first filed in June, the ruling now opens the door to potentially hundreds of Johnson City victims who were sexually assaulted over a more than five-year period, from Jan. 1, 2018, to April 25, 2023 — regardless of who the perpetrator was or whether the assaults were reported to police.
U.S. District Judge Travis McDonough said he didn’t find Johnson City’s efforts to thwart the class action lawsuit compelling. His 17-page decision dismissed nearly every argument the city sought to raise in limiting the scope of the lawsuit, including a suggestion that victims’ attorneys sought class action status as a ploy to delay the legal process.