Jury in New Orleans awards $1 million to teen raped by police officer

The city of New Orleans must pay $1 million to a teenager who was groomed and raped in 2020 by a former police officer who presented himself as a mentor to the girl, a federal jury decided Wednesday.

The officer, Rodney Vicknair, who died this year at 57, groomed and later raped the teenager, whom he met in May 2020 when he was dispatched to take her to a hospital for a rape kit after she was sexually assaulted by another man, according to prosecutors.

Vicknair was arrested in 2020 on state charges of sexual battery and indecent behavior with a teenager after the New Orleans Police Department received a report about his sexual misconduct with a minor, court records show.

Vicknair, who was later charged in federal court in connection with sex offenses against the juvenile, pleaded guilty last year to deprivation of rights under color of law in an arrangement with prosecutors and was sentenced to 14 years in prison, court records show. He died Jan. 1.

The teenager’s mother filed a civil suit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana in 2021 against Vicknair, the city of New Orleans and Shaun D. Ferguson, who was superintendent of the Police Department at the time.

The lawsuit claimed the teenager’s civil rights had been violated and that the Police Department’s “deliberate indifference” had allowed Vicknair to continue to take advantage of the teenager and sexually assault her.

The suit also claimed that the Police Department had dispatched Vicknair to take the teenager to the hospital “despite a history of complaints, specifically including predatory behavior towards women.”

A federal jury heard the case in New Orleans this week and determined that the Police Department had failed to vet Vicknair and supervise him properly. On Wednesday, it awarded the teenager, who is now 19, $1 million.

In a statement released through her lawyer Thursday, the teenager said that she had been trying to process “how even though the city knew they were liable, they still refused to acknowledge it — and that stings.”

“I really hope this was a wake-up call for them to accept accountability and put forth effort to end an unprincipled system and fix their mistakes,” the teenager said.

Her lawyer, William Most, said they hoped the verdict would ensure “that no other officers use the privilege of their badge and uniform to sexually abuse members of our community.” The Police Department and lawyers representing the city and Ferguson did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday.

In May 2020, after Vicknair took the teenager, who was 14 at the time, to the hospital for a rape kit, he stayed in touch with her, the lawsuit states. The teenager turned 15 in June 2020.

In the months after their first encounter, the lawsuit states, Vicknair tried to befriend her and presented himself as a mentor to her, calling or texting her almost daily from June 2020 until September of that year. Vicknair would also frequently invite himself to the teenager’s home, according to the lawsuits.

On one occasion, Vicknair invited himself to the teenager’s home at night, woke her up with his police flashlight and groped her, the lawsuit states. On two other occasions, Vicknair raped the teenager, according to the lawsuit.

Days before the second time the teenager was raped, the Police Department received a complaint about Vicknair and his inappropriate contact with the teenager, according to the lawsuit. Court documents do not indicate who made the complaint to the police.

The Police Department investigated, while Vicknair “remained on the street” and had the chance to rape the teen a second time, the lawsuit states.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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