FBI Probes Sex Assault Allegations by Female Deputies Against Houston Police

The FBI is investigating the Harris County Precinct One Constable’s Office after four current and former female deputies accused their superiors of sexual assault in a recent lawsuit, reports Houston Public Media. Three female deputies, along with a female human trafficking advocate, filed the lawsuit, and were later joined by a fourth accuser, against Const. Alan Rosen, Assistant Chief Chris Gore, Lt. Shane Rigdon and Harris County. The lawsuit alleges that the female deputies, who did not have previous training in undercover operations, were chosen to participate in so-called “bachelor party stings” — undercover operations allegedly created by Gore to combat human trafficking and involved the women posing as sex workers and male deputies posing as buyers.

However, the operations quickly became a “booze-fueled playground for sexual exploitation,” where the women were allegedly sexually harassed and assaulted by their colleagues, including Gore and Rigdon, according to the lawsuit. When Jacquelyn Aluotto, a female human trafficking advocate who worked with the precinct, reported the alleged misconduct to the Precinct One Internal Affairs Office, she was fired a day later. In a statement, Constable Rosen said that the department’s internal affairs unit had investigated the allegation, denied that there had been any informal complaint, and argued that the lawsuit was “an effort to impugn the good reputation of the hard-working men and women of the Precinct One Constable’s Office.”