Rodney Vicknair “exposed his penis to G.H. during FaceTime chats and informed her 'this is how hard you make me,'” according to the lawsuit. Then he raped G.H.
The city of New Orleans must pay $1 million to a teenager after she was raped by the police officer dispatched to the scene of her sexual assault.
The victim, G.H., is a survivor of childhood sexual abuse who met Officer Rodney Vicknair of the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) in May 2020 when she was just 14 years old, according to a copy of the lawsuit filed in a Louisiana federal court by her mother and obtained by Inside Edition Digital.
At the time, Vicknair had been dispatched to the scene of a sexual assault and took G.H. to a local children’s hospital so a rape kit could be performed, according to the suit.
Vicknair allegedly started grooming the young girl that same day despite being “aware of the sexual abuse and trauma that made G. H. uniquely vulnerable to manipulation exploitation and abuse by older men in positions of authority,” the lawsuit says.
At the time it was the policy of the NOPD to dispatch a trained detective who specializes in cases of child abuse or sex crimes to the scene of any assault involving an underage victim, according to the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, if a detective had not been dispatched, NOPD policy was that the patrol officer request one to the scene.
Vicknair was not a detective and allegedly did not request one to assist him at the scene, according to the lawsuit. Furthermore, there had been documented complaints in the past of Vicknair abusing his position and accessing police records to meet women, according to the lawsuit.
NOPD policy also said that interactions between officers and child victims should be minimal, but that was not the case between Vicknair and G.H., according to the lawsuit.
Vicknair began showing up at the victim’s home, contacting her on a near-daily basis, and even parking his patrol car on her known routes to see her, according to the lawsuit.
He also allegedly “verbally solicited sex acts from G.H.” and “requested that G.H. send him sexual pictures of herself,” according to the lawsuit.
Vicknair “exposed his penis to G.H. during FaceTime chats and informed her 'this is how hard you make me,'” according to the lawsuit.
Then he raped G.H.
Both rapes occurred in his patrol car after Vicknair picked G.H. in the vehicle with him, according to the lawsuit.
On one occasion he requested that G.H. give him her underwear after he raped her, and those same underwear were in his possession at the time of his arrest, according to the lawsuit.
The second rape happened despite a complaint being lodged against Vicknair.
“Days before the second rape occurred, the Office of the Independent Police Monitor (OIPM) was alerted that Officer Vicknair’s conduct towards G.H. was inappropriate. OIPM notified NOPD and NOPD investigated,” says the lawsuit.
Soon after the second rape Vicknair was arrested and later confessed to raping G.H. He died in prison earlier this year from a brain tumor, having served less than a year of his 14-year sentence.
The lawsuit lists 13 causes of action, nine of which were directed at the city of New Orleans including civil rights violation, liability for police misconduct, battery, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and failure to train, to name a few.
During the trial, G.H.spoke about the aftermath of her sexual assaults, saying she gets uneasy when she sees police cruisers and does not trust members of law enforcement, reports WDSU.
The rape survivor also said that Vicknair's actions drastically impacted the future she saw for herself before her assault.
"I don’t think that after this happened, I don’t think I have the mental capacity to have to be a mother," said GH.
A lawyer for the city of New Orleans did not respond to a request for comment.
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