FLORISSANT, Mo. — A 24-year-old woman from Missouri filed a $25,000 lawsuit on Friday, accusing a former Florissant police officer of misconduct during a February traffic stop. The woman, identified in court documents as Jane Doe, claims the officer, referred to as “Joe Smith” in the lawsuit, improperly accessed intimate photographs on her phone without her consent.
The lawsuit, filed by Jane and John Doe, a married couple from Florissant, names both the Florissant Police Department and the officer as defendants. The department stated that the officer is no longer employed by the city. The lawsuit accuses the officer of taking Jane Doe’s phone during the stop for a broken taillight, and later accessing and copying personal photos.
According to the complaint, the officer instructed Doe to provide proof of insurance on her phone, then took the device to his patrol car for more than 10 minutes. The lawsuit alleges that the officer used this time to “voyeuristically” access and photograph explicit images from Doe’s phone.
Months later, in July, Doe was contacted by FBI agents, who showed her an enlarged photograph of herself, which had been stored on her phone and only shared with her husband. The lawsuit claims the FBI found additional explicit images of Doe and her husband in the officer’s possession.
The incident has caused Jane Doe significant emotional distress, according to the filing. The plaintiffs have requested $25,000 in damages for invasion of privacy, emotional distress, and multiple claims of negligence against the department.
The Florissant Police Department issued a statement Wednesday, acknowledging the lawsuit and the ongoing investigation led by the FBI. The department stated it is fully cooperating and emphasized that no other officers were implicated. The department reiterated that the officer in question no longer works for the city.