A second class-action lawsuit has been filed against a former La Plata County Jail commander accused of using his law enforcement credentials to secretly watch strip-search videos of 117 female inmates over nearly five years.
Law firms Rathod Mohamedbhai LLC and John Baxter, Attorney at Law – currently representing 18 of the 117 victims – named La Plata County Sheriff Sean Smith and two jail deputies, in addition to former jail Cmdr. Edward Aber, in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit comes less than a month after an initial lawsuit was filed on behalf of three other victims by civil rights attorneys from the Front Range.
A news release issued by the two law firms involved in the latest case said the victims had been subject to “physical manipulation” and “penetration” by jail officials during filmed strip searches.
Aber used his law enforcement credentials to view the strip-search videos on evidence.com at least 3,166 times for his own sexual gratification, according to an affidavit filed by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
The release also acknowledged the sexual harassment allegations previously made against Aber by more than a dozen female co-workers at the jail.
“Aber’s reign of terror came to an end only when fourteen female Jail employees collectively came forward to report that Commander Aber had sexually harassed them,” the release said. “Only then did investigators think to check Commander Aber’s history of accessing the female strip search videos.”
Neil Sandhu, lead attorney at Rathod Mohamedbhai LLC, told The Durango Herald that the lawsuit extends beyond Aber to include Sheriff Smith and several other jail personnel, to pursue accountability from those who may have enabled the former commander’s behavior.
“Without question, (former) Cmdr. Aber shares much of the blame for the abuse that he inflicted on these victims, but he’s not the only one that shares that blame,” Sandhu said. “Blame lies also with the county, the sheriff and the deputies inside the jail who allowed this campaign of abuse to be inflicted upon these victims.”
Smith did not respond to requests for comment.
Like the initial lawsuit filed last month, the damages sought by the 18 victims go beyond monetary compensation, Sandhu said.
“They’re also seeking systematic change within the jail – changes to the manner in which strip search (videos) are used, whether they’re recorded, whether those recordings are stored and how (they’re stored), and who’s able to access them,” he said.
Aber is charged with of 117 counts of invasion of privacy and one count of official misconduct – all misdemeanors.
Protection, non-harassment and no-contact orders were filed last month for all victims.
Aber is scheduled for a pretrial hearing 9 a.m. Oct. 13 in La Plata County Court and a motions hearing at 10 a.m. Wednesday.
epond@durangoherald.com
