A sex sting went terribly wrong in Southern California, and now the victims of zealous police are suing, the Courthouse News Service’s Matt Reynolds reports. The suit concerns an incident where Manhattan Beach police arrested a disabled child’s caregiver while they were cracking down on gay sex in public rest rooms.
Charles Couch has filed a lawsuit in federal court against the police and the city of Manhattan Beach, and his photo was plastered over the Internet in news reports about the sting, which netted 18 people.
On March 9, 2012, Couch was caring for a disabled child. The child has a genetic disorder-- Prader-Willi Syndrome--whose symptoms include mental retardation and arrested sexual development. He took the child to the bathroom at a beach restroom.
It takes longer than usual for people with the genetic disorder to go to the bathroom, Couch said, and so he waited for the child to finish. Then, a detective named John Nasori entered the stall and frightened the child. “A few minutes later the child bolted from the stall, rushed up to plaintiff and whispered, 'There is a man looking at me in the stall!'” the lawsuit states.
Nasori allegedly chased them out of the bathroom, and then Couch was met by four other plainclothes detectives. Couch was afraid they wanted to kidnap the child. But the detectives went for Couch, and allegedly tackled, choked and handcuffed him. The cops accused him of “being sexually interested in other men, and asked if he would take his own little brother to a party to get 'laid.’” The police also allegedly went through his car and took his laptop to see if there was child porn on there. Couch was released without being charged after the child’s parents called and said that the child had a disorder.
But that wasn’t the end of Couch’s woes. A month later, his photo was published on a news website stating that he was one of the men arrested in the sex sting. And 11 months later, the police sent him a notice of a warrant for resisting a cop.
The lawsuit is seeking damages for alleged violations of his 4th and 14th Amendment rights.