Sacramento >> A lawsuit has been filed in federal court against Butte County, stemming from a correctional officer’s alleged sexual assaults of a female inmate at the county jail.

The civil rights lawsuit, which was filed by the former inmate May 16 in U.S. Court for the Eastern District of California, alleges violations of the plaintiff’s constitutional right against cruel and unusual punishment and right to due process, as well as supervisory failures by the county sheriff and county government.

The suit names as defendants Butte County, Sheriff Kory Honea, and former Butte County Jail correctional officer Timothy James Hill, among other unnamed defendants. Hill pleaded no contest last September to a misdemeanor charge of engaging in sexual activity with a female inmate and was sentenced to three years probation and 30 days in jail.

The former inmate who brought the lawsuit lives in Chico and is a former registered nurse, according to the suit. While she is named in court documents, it is the policy of this newspaper to withhold the names of victims of alleged sexual assaults.

The lawsuit was first reported by Broadly, a website under Vice Media.

The plaintiff is seeking unspecified general and punitive damages, according to the suit, including “compensation for all of her injuries, pain and suffering, emotional distress and legal expenses.”

The case

The lawsuit alleges the plaintiff was sexually assaulted by Hill, then a correctional officer, while serving a sentence at Butte County Jail in Oroville. The alleged assaults began on or about June 26, 2014, while the plaintiff was being booked into the jail.

In the first alleged assault, the plaintiff fell asleep in the jail’s booking area and was awoken by Hill, who escorted her to a holding cell, according to the lawsuit. The plaintiff fell asleep in the cell and was again awoken by Hill, who allegedly exposed his erect penis and held it near the plaintiff’s face.

The correctional officer allegedly ordered the plaintiff to touch his penis, and when the plaintiff recoiled from the officer, he “ordered plaintiff not to move any further because of security cameras in the area.”

Hill then left the area and returned several minutes later, when he then allegedly took the plaintiff’s hand and placed it on his erect penis, according to the suit. The plaintiff again pulled away from the officer and Hill left the area.

The second alleged assault happened 10-14 days later, according to the lawsuit. Hill allegedly escorted the plaintiff to an attorney-client visiting room “under the ruse” that the plaintiff had a visitor. The plaintiff did not have a scheduled attorney visit that day.

The visiting room is divided into separate areas for inmates and for attorneys, according to the suit. There are no video cameras or “call-buttons” in the area for inmates.

After Hill escorted the plaintiff to the visiting room, he left the area for several minutes, according to the suit. When the officer returned he allegedly assaulted the plaintiff by groping her and fondling her breasts from underneath her jail-issued jumpsuit.

“Although plaintiff tried to maneuver so as to prevent Hill from accessing her vagina, she was unsuccessful and Hill used his finger or fingers to penetrate her vagina,” the lawsuit alleges.

Hill allegedly left the room several times during the encounter, “as if he were afraid of getting caught and then returned shortly thereafter,” according to the suit. “Upon re-entering the room each time, Hill resumed his assaults on plaintiff.”

The plaintiff reported the alleged assaults before she was released from the jail on or about July 23, 2014, according to the suit. The officer resigned from his position when the allegations surfaced, officials have said.

The Butte County District Attorney’s Office charged Hill in July 2015 with misdemeanor counts of indecent exposure, sexual battery and sexual activity with a consenting detainee in a detention facility, according to online Butte County Superior Court records.

Last September Hill pleaded no contest to the count of sexual activity with a consenting detainee, according to online court records. The remaining counts were dismissed. Hill was sentenced Oct. 14, 2015, to three years formal probation and 30 days in jail.

In the lawsuit, it’s said the plaintiff was not a consenting adult during the sexual encounters. It’s further alleged prosecutors, “acting at the behest of Sheriff Honea, permitted Hill to plead guilty to this misdemeanor charge in an attempt to minimize his criminal liability, and, correspondingly, to attempt to minimize the civil liability of the sheriff’s department for Hill’s conduct.”

On Tuesday, Miranda Bowersox, a spokeswoman for the Butte County Sheriff’s Office, said, “We are not able to comment on pending litigation.”

According to the lawsuit, Honea allegedly knew about past allegations of sexual assaults allegedly committed by Hill upon jail inmates “but took no action, resulting in the constitutional violations” alleged by the plaintiff.

In August 2013, it’s alleged multiple inmates at Butte County Jail “complained, through the Butte County Inmate Advocate, of sexual harassment and sexual assaults by Hill,” according to the lawsuit. The inmate advocate is said to have subsequently notified the sheriff about the complaints.

“On information and belief, Sheriff Honea spoke directly to one or more of the inmate complainants as well as the Inmate Advocate,” it’s alleged in the lawsuit. “Despite having actual knowledge of Hill’s pattern of sexually assaulting inmates, Sheriff Honea took no action to address the ongoing constitutional violations.”

The plaintiff alleges that had Honea “taken the appropriate steps in response to the 2013 complaints against Hill,” none of the conduct alleged in her lawsuit would have occurred.

The lawsuit claims Butte County is liable in the case, as Hill’s alleged constitutional violations “resulted from de facto policies, customs and practices” that were in effect at the jail, including inadequate discipline of employees, inadequately investigating complaints of sexual assaults and inadequately supervising officers.

Bruce Alpert, county counsel for Butte County, said the county has no such policy that would allow personnel to act inappropriately at the jail.

Alpert said his office will conduct its own investigation into the matter, adding that it is county policy to not comment on ongoing litigation.

It was unclear if Hill has retained an attorney. Leo Barone Jr., a defense attorney who previously represented Hill in Butte County, said Tuesday he no longer represents the former correctional officer.

Contact reporter Andre Byik at 896-7760.