CINCINNATI (CN) - A Hamilton County morgue worker had sex with the corpses of three women who had been brought in for autopsies, the families claim in Federal Court. The families say that Kenneth Douglas, who is in prison, also "drank alcohol and took drugs during working hours and had sexual relations while on the premises with women who visited the staff at night," during his 15 years with the county morgue.
The families claim that Douglas had sex with corpses on three occasions, in 1982 and 1991, and that these acts of necrophilia "were foreseeable given the encouragement of Douglas' handling of bodies while under the influence of drugs and alcohol and his sexual activity with various women on morgue premises."
The families say that Douglas sexually abused their relatives after they arrived at the morgue but before their autopsies could be performed, "while their families had no right of access or ability to protect the bodies from abuse."
The families call this "outrageous conduct that shocks the conscience." They claim that DNA evidence taken from the bodies matched Douglas' DNA.
They also sued former Hamilton County Coroner Dr. Frank Cleveland and former Morgue Supervisor Bernard Kersker, for allegedly fostering a "management style that facilitated and encouraged misconduct."
Plaintiffs' lead counsel is Alphonse Gerhardstein.
According to the complaint, Douglas is an inmate at an Ohio state prison.
Follow @@kkoeninger44
Subscribe to Closing Arguments
Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.
Additional Reads
-
-
Contributor-Test-Post-2024-04-12 April 12, 2024
