Suit alleges firefighter raped girl

A teenage girl who alleges she was raped by an on-duty firefighter in a Spokane fire station filed a civil rights lawsuit Friday in U.S. District Court, seeking unspecified damages.

The filing of the suit comes after a $1 million claim for damages sought by the girl, who’s now 17, was rejected by the city of Spokane, which is self-insured.

The girl’s attorney, J. Scott Miller, said Friday he attempted to negotiate a settlement with the city after the claim was filed in July.

“We were disappointed to discover that the Spokane Police Department and Fire Department representatives blame the victim for what happened,” Miller said.

“Federal court is where this young girl will receive justice,” the Spokane attorney said.

The girl’s civil rights were violated, the suit contends, because the city and its employees were negligent. Damages are sought for negligent infliction of emotional distress, outrageous conduct and assault and battery.

City Attorney Jim Craven declined comment Friday on the suit, referring inquiries to city spokeswoman Marlene Feist.

“Attorneys for the city have not had adequate time to review the lawsuit,” Feist said.

“We remain concerned about the well-being of this young woman,” the city spokeswoman said.

“However, the city maintains that we are not liable for any of the circumstances that occurred … and we will vigorously defend the lawsuit.”

The girl is identified only as “Jane Doe” in the suit. Her grandmother, who is her guardian, also is a plaintiff, identified only as “Mary Roe.”

Defendants in the suit, who know the girl’s true identity, are the city and its police and fire departments. Detective Neil Gallion and Detective Sgt. Joe Peterson are named only in their official capacities, not individually.

Firefighter Daniel W. Ross, who was fired on March 8, and his wife are named individually and in his official position as a city employee.

The suit also names 10 other unidentified potential defendants.

By filing the suit in federal court, the plaintiff can seek not only actual economic damages, medical costs and attorney fees, but also punitive damages if a jury concludes the girl’s civil rights were violated.

The civil suit was assigned to Chief U.S. District Court Judge Fred Van Sickle.

The sexual encounter on Feb. 10 was photographed by Ross, who was one of three firefighters on duty that day at Station No. 17 in northwest Spokane.

The 16-year-old girl and the 35-year-old firefighter had met online, at an Internet site called adultfriendfinder.com., and exchanged text messages and cell phone calls before meeting in person for the first time at the fire station, an investigation showed.

On numerous occasions, the suit says, the girl “specifically advised Ross that she was a minor, whose true age was 16, and that she attended a local high school.”

In outlining its negligence claim, the suit says Ross regularly used wireless Internet connections provided by the city of Spokane at the fire station for unauthorized activities, including “transmitting pictures of himself engaged in sexual acts with women.”

When the teenager arrived at the fire station, other firefighters “ignored the fact” that Ross was escorting a minor girl to areas of the station not normally open to the public.

Ross attempted to “initiate sexual contact” with the girl on several occasions in the fire station, but she rebuffed those advances, the suit says.

The girl contends she was photographed partially naked wearing the firefighter’s coat, posing in front of fire trucks.

“This activity occurred within a few feet of the office occupied by other Fire Department employees who failed and refused to interfere or assist,” the suit alleges.

Ross then took the girl to the station’s furnace room “and sexually assaulted her,” it says.

“The sexual assault by Ross was without (the plaintiff’s) consent and over her repeated objections,” the suit alleges.

The teenager “found herself in a position to offer no effective resistance” to Ross, who she deemed a “person with special authority because of his position as a uniformed firefighter,” the suit says.

After leaving the fire station, the girl, who lived nearby, told her boyfriend what had occurred, and he reported the incident to police as a rape.

When Detective Gallion and his supervisor, Sgt. Peterson, were sent to investigate, they instructed the firefighter to delete the photographs, apparently concluding the sexual encounter was consensual after looking at the pictures taken with Ross’ personal digital camera.

Senior police commanders later said the detectives believed they were protecting the girl’s interests in having the pictures deleted – a move that would prevent Ross from disseminating the images on the Internet.

But the lawsuit alleges that “Detective Gallion had earlier contact with the (girl) which improperly influenced his investigation of the matter.” It doesn’t describe the nature of that previous contact.

Peterson, the suit says, was aware of Gallion’s decision to delete the pictures and “that destruction of evidence violated the Spokane Police Department’s policies and protocols.”

After an internal affairs investigation, Peterson was suspended for three days without pay and Gallion two days without pay. The Police Department, citing court rulings, won’t release a copy of the internal affairs report.

The case triggered a firestorm of public outrage and was one factor in prompting calls for revamping civilian oversight of the Police Department – something new Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick and Mayor Dennis Hession have promised.

The firefighter was fired by the city from his $63,769 a year job, but no criminal charges were filed because, prosecutors said, they couldn’t recover the digital images from a computer card in the camera.

The lawsuit alleges Ross put another computer card in his camera before it was later retrieved as part of a re-opened police investigation.

When the claim was filed on July 14, Assistant City Attorney Rocky Treppiedi said it was without merit.

Treppiedi said the girl didn’t want to press charges and faced her own “credibility issues.”

“The (city’s) investigation concluded the sexual contact was consensual,” Treppiedi said.