Johnson City raised allegations that police botched sexual assault investigations – Tennessee Lookout

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For more than a year, allegations that local police shielded a well-known businessman accused of multiple sexual assaults or incompetently bungled their investigation into the allegations against him have gripped Johnson City.

Local advocates have taken to the streets to demand reform of the police department dealing with sexual assault cases.

City officials hired an outside consultant to determine whether the department’s actions were inconsistent with acceptable law enforcement practices. Shortly after the consultant was hired, all three of Johnson’s top police department officials, including its chief, simultaneously took early retirement.

A California law firm stepped in to represent the victims; the nonprofit business partner said new victims continued to come forward.

And an unusual federal lawsuit filed against the city, its former police chief and unnamed members of the police department by a former special assistant to the U.S. attorney turned whistleblower who first brought public attention to the allegations continued to keep them in the spotlight.

In her lawsuit, former Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Katina Dahl alleges that the Johnson City Police Department, through incompetence or corruption, failed to remove a serial rapist from the streets, then fired her from her contract work as a liaison between the police and the federal prosecutor as she prosecuted the case.

Dahl says the matter came to his attention after a woman survived a five-story fall from the man’s apartment after a night out in downtown Johnson City. Police investigating the woman’s claims that she was drugged and then pushed found a handwritten list on the man’s nightstand scrawled with the names of 23 women, under the word “raped”.

The man at the center of the allegations, corporate real estate and Johnson City business owner Sean Williams, faces no sexual assault charges, nor charges related to the fall of the woman from her apartment. He fled Johnson City two years ago, evading illegal ammunition charges that Dahl pursued against him in his ultimately foiled sexual assault investigation. Earlier this month, Williams was arrested on unrelated drug charges in North Carolina. Williams remains in custody and a lawyer for Williams could not be reached last week.

“Survivors have been living in fear for years”

Vanessa Baehr-Jones, an attorney representing victims with Advocates for Survivors of Abuse, based in Oakland, Calif., said her nonprofit is committed to pursuing whatever justice is available for victims.

Johnson City police sued by former Special Assistant US Attorney

I represent survivors of Sean Williams, who were forcibly sexually assaulted, Baehr-Jones said last week. “Survivors have lived in fear for years and his arrest is the start of a process to ensure justice and safety, and to hold him accountable. But this is only the first step. I have the impression that there are other victims.

It’s unclear whether the alleged victims will find justice with local or state law enforcement, though civil action is a possibility.

Johnson City Police have referred all questions to City Manager Kathy Ball. Ball, who ordered the third-party police review, said through a spokesperson last week that no officers had been disciplined for handling reports of sexual abuse at the police.

No disciplinary action was warranted, the spokesperson said.

She noted that the review by the police department’s external consultant dealing with sexual assault cases would be available in two to three weeks.

We also worked internally to identify areas for improvement. We know we need to dedicate resources to our service to ensure its success, Ball’s spokesperson said. We have an excellent police service that serves our community well.

Meanwhile, Ball asked District Attorney Ken Baldwin to request a TBI investigation into the police department’s conduct. Baldwin refused, and a TBI spokesperson said last week that they were not conducting any review of the department. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in East Tennessee, who may also refer the department for an outside investigation, declined Friday to answer questions.

“In my 20 years on the force, I have encountered only one real rape”

Johnson City top cop admits officers knew about sexual assault complaints against businessman

Dahl was hired as a special prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Greeneville in September 2019, tasked with helping police in the town of Johnson mount federal cases against drug dealers and violent criminals. It was a contract position requiring him to report to then-Chief of Police Karl Turner.

A year after Dahl was hired, she learned that a woman had fallen from the window of William’s downtown fifth-floor condominium. Police quickly ruled out foul play, calling the fall a “medical” incident.

But as part of their investigation, police searched Williams’ condominium, finding the “raped” list and ammunition. Williams had already been named in two prior police reports as a sexual assault suspect. The allegations in those reports came from women who said they suspected they were drugged and then raped at Williams’ home.

Meeting resistance or disinterest from the police, Dahl pursued the case, even though the sexual assault crimes did not fall squarely within the contract she had with the city. She faced opposition from the police chief, according to the lawsuit.

Chief Turner questioned the handwritten list of rape victims retrieved from the condo (Williams), saying the victims are unsure in this regard regardless of what he wrote in the notebook, the lawsuit said. . He further stated: Even the list, I don’t know if it’s girls he raped or girls he had consensual sex with and calls her what he calls her. All I know is there’s a piece of paper with names on it.

Another officer questioned the credibility of another woman who said Williams raped her. Another alleged rape victim was found to be uncooperative with police, the lawsuit said. When contacted by Dahl, this victim told the special prosecutor that she had been drugged, raped and then fled the Williams Condominium in distress to find two police officers in the lobby of the building.

“In extreme distress, screaming and without shoes, the woman said the officers took her home but did nothing to investigate.

Ex-police chief denies any wrongdoing

Dahl continued to hear from more and more victims the lawsuit alleges met 10 who described a similar pattern: Williams would meet young women in downtown bars, invite them to his condo, where they would pass out and would later wake up to find that Williams had sexually assaulted him, the lawsuit says. The women told Dahl they suspected they had been drugged.

Ben Putland, a local police reform advocate who also works in the restaurant industry, said Williams was a well-known regular in the downtown bar scene where he works. He said since allegations emerged against Williams, he’s been “collecting stories” from local women to take to city officials, pushing for greater police accountability.

Dahl says the department ignored or downplayed repeated rape allegations, mocked female complainants, and informed the alleged suspect of a pending federal indictment, allowing him to evade arrest.

In my 20 years on the force, I’ve encountered only one real rape, an officer told Dahl. Another officer made derogatory comments about the way one of the alleged victims was dressed.

Hugh Eastwood, Dahl’s St. Louis attorney, declined to comment on the case, citing local court rules prohibiting public statements.

In a legal response to the lawsuit, the Johnson City police chief admitted his agency knew Williams was suspected of drugging women and sexually assaulting them, but never sought to question him about rape allegations . Turner, the chief, instead defended his handling of the allegations.

Each complaint of sexual assault or rape was properly investigated, the response said.

Dahl, however, was frustrated with police inaction, according to the lawsuit. She instead filed federal charges based on illegally detained ammunition found in Williams’ condo after the woman fell. In April 2021, police showed up at Williams’ condo to serve him with the ammunition charges. Williams refused to answer the door, and WJHL-TV reported that Williams called the police department multiple times as officers stood outside her door.

Johnson City police officers gave up serving Williams, left the condo, and Williams fled town, remaining at large until his arrest in North Carolina for cocaine and methamphetamine earlier this month.

Dahl’s contract with Johnson City was abruptly terminated two months after Williams fled Johnson City.

She has since filed formal complaints against the Johnson City Police Department with the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General and the Agencies Public Integrity Section, according to the lawsuit, which said that so far neither had taken action.

Andrew Bakaj, who represents Dahl in his whistleblowing, said Williams’ arrest “could be the start of a long process to hold him accountable for what he has done.”

Williams was returned to federal custody on May 9 to face the outstanding illegal ammunition charges. A trial in that case is scheduled for September 12 in Greeneville, Tennessee.

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