Woman sues city alleging rape by former police officer

A woman is suing the city of Jackson over allegations that she was raped by a Jackson police officer.

The officer, Everett Lamont Gray, was indicted on a charge of rape and resigned from the police department last year. He is next scheduled to be in court on that charge on April 27 at 8:30 a.m.

Attorney Michael Weinman filed two lawsuits Tuesday on behalf of the woman, one in Madison County Circuit Court and one in U.S. District Court in Jackson. The state lawsuit seeks damages of up to $1.5 million for injuries resulting from negligence by the city, and the federal lawsuit alleges violations of the woman's Fifth and 14th Amendment rights to due process and equal protection.

Attorney John Burleson, who is defending the city against the lawsuits, said in a written statement that city officials received the suits this week. Burleson said the woman who filed the suits "wrongly claims that the city knew Gray was a rapist. There are no facts that support these claims and we will defend the city against these false allegations."

"Although we have not completed our investigation, the preliminary results reveal that (the plaintiff) alleges that an off-duty police officer, Everett Gray, raped her in her home on April 4, 2014," Burleson said. "When (she) reported the matter to the police department, the department immediately began both criminal and internal-affairs investigations. During the investigations, Gray resigned from the police department. Although Gray's resignation ended the internal-affairs investigation, the criminal investigation continued and led to Gray's indictment. District Attorney General Jerry Woodall is prosecuting the criminal matter.

Jackson Mayor Jerry Gist said, "It's still under litigation, that's about I know. The officer was off duty, charges were brought and an internal investigation started. He resigned, and now it's in the hands of the legal system, and charges will be brought and (the case) will be determined by a court of law."

The lawsuits say the woman met Gray through another police officer who asked Gray to help with the woman's autistic son, who sometimes had behavior problems.



The suits say the officer who introduced the woman to Gray "negligently placed her in the position to be raped" because the officer "was aware that Officer Gray likely posed a threat to (the) plaintiff." The suit alleges that Gray "had a reputation in the JPD for being sexually aggressive with females," which the other officer was aware of.

The lawsuits also say that on the night of the alleged rape, Gray told other officers about his sexual intentions toward the plaintiff, and none of them took action to stop him or to warn her.

The lawsuits allege that Gray was under investigation for other misconduct while he was employed and on duty as a Jackson Police Department officer. "Upon information and belief, Officer Gray has been involved in other inappropriate incidents at his previous employer and current and former upper management of the defendant (the city) either knew of or should have been aware of this misconduct, which should have precluded his employment at the JPD," the lawsuits state.

The plaintiff believes "that she was raped by Officer Gray because the defendant's policymakers acted negligently in hiring Officer Gray and in failing to appropriately oversee, train, discipline, and/or supervise Officer Gray," the suits say.

The Jackson Sun reported last June that Gray resigned with the understanding that he would be fired if he did not quit, according to his personnel file.

Gray, then 29, worked as a patrol officer with the Jackson Police Department for almost 14 months. He resigned on May 24, 2014. A Madison County grand jury indicted him on a charge of rape on June 2.

On April 4, 2014, the 39-year-old Jackson woman reported to police that Gray, who was an acquaintance of hers, raped her inside her apartment while he was off-duty.

According to a news release sent by the police department last June, Gray had been placed on paid administrative leave in April pending the outcome of the rape investigation.

There were no disciplinary actions against Gray in his file. Gray was still in his two-year probationary period at the time of his resignation.

In June, Gill Kendrick, who was Jackson police chief at that time, said when officers apply for a position with the department, their acceptance is a conditional offer based on passing a psychological exam, physical exam and drug training. Kendrick said Gray passed all of his tests before he was hired.