LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – A federal judge has agreed to allow seven former youths in the Louisville Metro Police Department’s Explorer program to proceed in their civil sexual abuse lawsuits against the city without using their names.
U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings ruled Tuesday that the plaintiffs' privacy outweighs the public's right to the information, especially given they were minors when the allegations occurred.
“Their claims – that law enforcement officers sexually abused them, failed to protect them from abuse, and/or failed to report the abuse of government officials – clearly challenge governmental activity,” Jennings ruled. “And the nature of the claims would clearly require plaintiffs to disclose information ‘of the utmost intimacy.”
Jennings also determined that the lawsuits can be consolidated, although that doesn’t necessarily mean they will all be in one trial, and that they should be unsealed. Currently, only two of the seven lawsuits are unsealed.
The judge ruled the cases should be unsealed in the next 15 days.
In addition, the ruling identified several new officers who have been named in the lawsuits, including former Officer Julie Schmidt, who was an adviser in the Explorer program, and Officer Matt Gelhausen, who was a program adviser.
Schmidt and Gelhausen are accused of negligent training, hiring, supervision and retention.
Officers Paul Paris and Casey Scott are also named in at least one lawsuit, according to the order. It is unclear what claims are being made against them.
Among others, the lawsuits name the city, Boy Scouts of America, three officers accused of abuse and Curtis Flaherty, the former head of the Explorer program, and concern accusations of sexual abuse and cover-up in the program.
The alleged victims, identified in the suit only by initials, have made claims against officers that include sexual assault, stalking and harassment. The officers named in the suits are Kenneth Betts, Brandon Wood and Bradley Schuhmann.
Betts and Wood have both been indicted on criminal charges and are no longer with the department. Schuhmann is under investigation and on administrative leave.
Tad Thomas, an attorney for the alleged victims, filed a motion in May asking a federal judge to allow the alleged victims to "expose" their true names only to the defendants in the cases and any witnesses that are required to know their identity.
The motion includes sealing all court documents that would identify the plaintiffs and concealing the names from "tangential" witnesses.
Thomas argues the alleged victims were juveniles when the assaults occurred, and that as sex abuse victims their "privacy interests clearly outweigh the necessity to reveal" the names to the public.
Defendants had argued against this, saying it would be detrimental to their defense to keep the identifies secret.
The judge set a hearing date for Sept. 27.
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