MIDDLESEX COUNTY -- A former New Jersey woman with a rare disorder is suing the county jail over claims that she was placed in a cell wearing only a hospital gown in the men's wing of the facility where a corrections officer allegedly ordered her to bend over, spread her legs and laughed.

The allegations stem from the 27-year-old's brief overnight stint in the Middlesex County Adult Corrections Facility following her arrest in Edison on Sept. 21, 2015, over a bench warrant. The warrant was issued five months earlier on a shoplifting charge, according to court and police records.

The woman, who lived in Somerset at the time, filed the lawsuit in Middlesex County Superior Court last month alleging her civil rights were violated and assault and battery.

Middlesex County officials declined to comment on pending litigation.

According to her attorney, K. Raja Bhattacharya, the woman, who has Type 1 diabetes, was taken to the jail's psychiatrist's office following a panic attack over her low blood sugar, according to the lawsuit.

When the woman was brought back to the female wing of the jail in a medical patient gown, she claims in a statement through her attorney that she was strip searched by a woman officer who told her she was a man and had a penis.

The woman, who suffers from a rare disorder, Congenital Generalized Lipodystrophy, said she was then forced to disrobe in front of men in the jail and strip searched again by male officers, according to the lawsuit.

According to the National Organization for Rare Disorders, the disorder causes near total loss of body fat and in females, can cause increased facial hair and enlarged genitalia.

The woman claims male officers mocked her through the night, allegedly ordering her to bend over and spread her legs and laughed at her, according to her attorney.

One corrections officer asked her if she was "tucking anything" and others refused to believe she was a female as she sat in a cell "practically nude" in her medical gown, she claims according to her attorney.

The woman's arrest records, obtained from the Edison Police Department through a Open Public Records Act request, list her as a female.

After nine hours in the men's wing, an officer making rounds after a shift change pulled her from the cell and was "apologetic" about the placement with the male inmates, according to the statement she gave to her lawyer.

It was unclear when the woman was released from the jail. The records department at Middlesex County Adult Correction Facility couldn't retrieve the woman's incarceration history.

The Edison police arrest report shows she was taken to the county jail after her arrest.

The woman has since moved to Florida where she has had mental health treatment as a result of the incident, her attorney claims.

Craig McCarthy may be reached at 732-372-2078 or at CMcCarthy@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @createcraig and on Facebook here. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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