ELKINS, W. Va. (CN) - A West Virginia sheriff raped a teenager and sodomized her with a cucumber, threatened to kill her if she told, and subjected at least five other women to forced sex, at least once in a courthouse, a woman claims in Federal Court.
Brittany Mae Keene sued Barbour County Sheriff John Wesley Hawkins and the Barbour County Commission.
She claims the county essentially let Hawkins conduct a reign of sexual terror against women in his custody.
The lurid, 17-page complaint states: "The County Defendant had both actual and constructive notice of Hawkins' individual tendencies toward the use of excessive force and violence including prior occasions, to-wit:
"Female #1: Defendant Hawkins threatened to institute criminal charges against a female, approximately 18 years old, unless she performed oral sex on him, and the female unwillingly complied by performing oral sex on Defendant Hawkins in a bathroom located in the Barbour County Courthouse;
"Female #2: Defendant Hawkins arrested female #2, approximately 16 years of age, and threatened to proceed forward with the prosecution unless the female performed oral sex on him and the female unwillingly performed oral sex on Defendant Hawkins in his police cruiser; Defendant Hawkins warned her to say nothing or he would hurt her;
"Female #3: Defendant Hawkins forced female #3 to perform oral sex on him in exchange for drugs he obtained from the police evidence room;
"Female #4: Defendant Hawkins, while in uniform, handcuffed a 19-year-old female in the barn at the Barbour County Fairgrounds, performed various sex acts on her against her will, and in addition, forced her to have sex with him in a closet at his office at the Barbour County Courthouse;
"Female #5: Defendant Hawkins handcuffed female #5 at the Barbour County shooting range and performed various sex acts on her against her will; Defendant Hawkins told her to keep her mouth shut or he would kill her; thereby unnecessarily, wantonly, and deliberately exerting excessive force on the person of helpless detainees, which conduct was subsequently ratified and approved by the County Defendant."
In a footnote, omitted from the quotation above, the plaintiff says she will identify the five women if they agree to be identified.
Then Keene describes what she says Hawkins did to her:
"During late July or early August of 2011, Defendant Hawkins began communicating with plaintiff, who was under the age of 18, on the social media site Facebook.
"Plaintiff sought employment at the 911 communications center and Defendant Hawkins was provided with a copy of plaintiff's resume, which included plaintiff's date of birth and cell phone number.
"During late July/early August of 2011, Defendant Hawkins began texting plaintiff and made arrangements to meet her during the late evening hours, after plaintiff finished working at the Shop & Save in Barbour County, WV, under the pretext of interviewing plaintiff for the 911 job. Defendant Hawkins met with plaintiff at the Haven of Hope Church parking lot and instructed plaintiff to enter his county-owned vehicle. Defendant Hawkins was wearing his uniform, as well as his county-issued firearm.
"Defendant Hawkins proceeded to drive with plaintiff to a camper owned by the County Defendant and located at the Barbour County Fairgrounds in Barbour County, WV. He explained to plaintiff that he needed to interview plaintiff at a private location where they would not be seen so that people would not get the wrong idea.
