Man Says Police Lt. Gave Him an Oral STD

ATLANTA (CN) - A police lieutenant gave a man oral gonorrhea during arrest by forcing him to partially disrobe and perform oral sex to avoid jail time, the man claims in Fulton County Superior Court.

Brandon Young was working at the Starbucks at the Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC) when he was arrested for allegedly having a stolen cell phone in his car. Young says Lt. Tyrone Ferrell of the GWCC Police Department took two of his cell phones during the arrest.

While browsing the content of the phones, Ferrell allegedly saw nude photos of Young and other men and asked Young if he was gay. He told Young he could avoid going to jail if he cooperated with him, the lawsuit claims.

Young says Ferrell demanded that he "pull up his shirt" and "pull his pants down to his thighs," and ordered him to perform oral sex. Ferrell then told Young that "he would receive information in the mail regarding his citation and that he was free to leave," the lawsuit claims.

About an hour after Young left, Ferrell allegedly sent Young text messages "asking him if he was okay, inquired about [Young's] plans for the evening and asked [Young] if he could come back to the police station later to look at some photographs."

Instead, Young says he went to a hospital to be examined for sexually transmitted diseases and had a rape kit performed on him by hospital staff. He tested positive for oral gonorrhea.

Young claims he immediately told GWCC police, but they waited a day to investigate the alleged crime scene. He says the department should have allowed an outside agency to handle the investigation, instead of allowing its officers to take the rape kit back to their offices, despite Young's objections.

He also accuses the department of negligence in hiring Ferrell, whose employment file "clearly showed that defendant Ferrell was not fit to be a police officer" and was "capable of committing acts he committed against [Young]," according to the lawsuit.

He says the traumatic arrest forced him to seek therapy and psychological counseling.

He demands punitive damages from Ferrell, the GWCC and Police Chief William Shannon. His attorney is Michael Harper.

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