Police Officer at Center of Scandal Sues Department, Says She Was ‘Sexually Groomed’

Former Tennessee police officer Maegan Hall says she was “sexually groomed” at the police department she was fired from in a new lawsuit, per NBC News.

The 26-year-old Hall, who previously admitted to engaging in sexual relationships with four officers at the La Vergne Police Department, has alleged that she was subjected to “sexual grooming” in the workplace. Hall filed the lawsuit on Monday in U.S. District Court in Nashville, naming the city of La Vergne, and former officers Burrell “Chip” Davis, Lewis Powell, and Henry “Ty” McGowan. She has accused the defendants of failing to give her due process and violating the federal law by sharing intimate images of her online.

Elsewhere in the suit, Hall accused former police chief Davis of making his intentions to have sex with her known among colleagues, including in text messages sent to one of her superiors. “During her employment, Ms. Hall was groomed to engage in sexually exploitative activities by men in the department including Sgt. Powell, Sgt. McGowan, and Chief Davis,” the suit alleges. “From the beginning of her employment, Ms. Hall experienced a workplace environment permeated with sexual innuendo and sexually explicit behavior."

The 51-page federal complaint describes the officers named in the suit as “predators” who “colluded in using their authority to systematically disarm her resistance and entrap her in degrading and abusive sexual relationships, even sharing tips on the best ways to manipulate and exploit her.” Per the New York Post, Hall has a history of mental illness and “felt trapped” by the work environment and “nearly killed herself.”

Hall, Powell, and McGowan were among five officers who were fired when the sex scandal was made public in January. Police chief Davis was fired last month following an investigation.