The mother of a 14 year old Ohio girl who was jailed for 12 days for failing to testify against a man accused of having sex with her has sued the county prosecutor and sheriff.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court, seeks $12 million in damages for the 12 days the girl was held at the Summit County jail in May.
The girl was released after the 9th Ohio District Court of Appeals ruled she should not have been held without a hearing or placed in an adult jail. She had been isolated from adult inmates.
She then testified against 20-year-old Galo Sanchez-Pesantes, who was acquitted by a jury of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.
The lawsuit claims the girl was illegally held as a material witness, subjected to a strip search, denied access to education and visitors, and "offensively touched" while being handcuffed and shackled.
The defendants are Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh and two of her assistants, along with Sheriff Drew Alexander, jail Chief Steven Finical and unnamed sheriff's deputies.
Common Pleas Judge James Murphy, who ordered the girl held in jail after she failed to appear in his court to testify, has immunity from the lawsuit.
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