Woman who said she had sex with on-duty Marco policemen accuses city of negligence

Devan Patel | Marco Eagle

The woman who said she engaged in sex acts with on-duty Marco Island police officers has filed a notice of a claim against the city.

Before a lawsuit can be filed against a government entity in Florida, a written notice of a claim must be filed.

Justin Hales, an attorney representing the 21-year-old woman notified the Florida Department of Financial Services and the city of the claim Oct. 8. He alleged negligence of government employees resulted in injuries and other damages to his client.

“This negligence includes, but is not limited to, negligent hiring, retention, supervision, and police misconduct of Marco Island Police Officers, including but not limited to: James Inlow, Neil Giansanti, and Kevin Hennings,” Hales wrote.

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Acting City Manager Guillermo Polanco did not respond to a request for comment, but Capt. Dave Baer said city officials would not comment on pending litigation.

An internal affairs investigation was begun in August 2017 after the woman alleged Inlow made threats against her after she and Inlow's wife publicly confronted the officer about an alleged affair. The woman told investigators that she had a two-year relationship with Inlow.

Inlow returned to duty until late January, when the woman's father approached Marco Island Police Chief Al Schettino with numerous sexually explicit photos and text messages. In some of the messages, Inlow allegedly asked the woman to bring him Adderall.

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After the Naples Daily News and Marco Eagle requested the police report, Schettino wrote a letter Aug. 20 expressing his concerns while also acknowledging fault by his officers.

“Unfortunately, former members of this agency had a negative impact in this young person’s life,” Schettino wrote. “Regrettably we cannot change that fact. It is clear that I found the former officer’s behavior reprehensible and contrary to the public trust.”

Inlow again became the focus of internal affairs and that spawned three additional investigations as other officers were found to have known about Inlow’s actions or had inappropriate contact with the same woman. That information came in part from a forensic download of the woman's electronic devices by the Collier County Sheriff’s Office.

Inlow resigned in February. Investigators concluded the allegations against him were accurate after checking his shift reports against timestamps from the messages and photos.

The forensic download of the woman's phone and computer also revealed a video that showed Giansanti had sex with her while on duty.

Although the department could not track its vehicles through GPS, a timestamp and GPS location attached to the video put the alleged incident in the parking lot of the Family Church of Marco Island at 1:53 a.m., April 4, 2017. From 1:19 to 2:39 a.m., Giansanti did not respond to or report any incidents.

Giansanti resigned before the completion of his investigation.

Officer Kevin Hennings was fired Sept. 18 after the department concluded allegations that he also had sex while on duty were accurate.

Hennings denied the allegations in two interviews with department personnel and has started the process toward appealing his firing.

A fourth officer, Detective Brian Granneman, was found to have known about Inlow’s actions while on duty. Citing Granneman’s disciplinary record, Schettino issued a written reprimand in May to Granneman for not reporting Inlow to other supervisors.

In her sworn testimony, the woman alleged she slept with Granneman on two occasions while he was off duty, in addition to him providing her with alcohol when she was a minor.

The police department also recorded a sworn interview with her sister, who said the woman bragged about her relationships with police officers.

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"She just wanted to get a rise out of people," the woman's sister told investigators.

In an email obtained through a public records request, Robert Bates, co-counsel for Hennings, said his client "did nothing wrong."