Featured Image Credit: FOX 13 Tampa Bay / State of Florida
Topics: Florida, Sexual Abuse, Police, Crime, US News
Ben Williams
Topics: Florida, Sexual Abuse, Police, Crime, US News
A woman from Florida is taking legal action against a local sheriff’s office after claiming officers made her do something unthinkable during an investigation into her childhood abuse.
The 22-year-old, named in court documents as Taylor Cadle, says the people who were meant to protect her instead humiliated and silenced her, forcing her to take responsibility for crimes she didn’t commit.
Her story, which has recently come to light through a lawsuit filed in October, paints a harrowing picture of how victims of sexual abuse can be retraumatized by the very systems designed to deliver justice.
According to the case, the events go back to when Taylor was a child in the care of her adoptive parents, Henry and his wife, after she’d been moved out of foster care in 2012.
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Between the ages of 9 and 13, Taylor alleges she suffered repeated sexual assaults at the hands of Henry Cadle.
When she finally confided in a church member about what was happening, that person reported it to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
It was then, according to the lawsuit, that the nightmare took another cruel turn. Taylor says investigators from the sheriff’s office, including Sheriff Grady Judd and investigator Melissa Turnage, accused her of making up the claims. Instead of helping her, they allegedly forced her to write letters apologizing to her abuser.
As reported by People, one of the handwritten notes addressed to ‘Dad’ read: “I'm sorry for what I did… I didn't stop and think of my consequences.”
Another letter, written to an unnamed officer, included the line: “I know what I did wasn't right, therefore I face my consequences. This will never happen again.”
The lawsuit also accuses investigator Turnage of dismissing Taylor’s allegations during a conversation with Henry. She allegedly told him: “Basically, Taylor [Plaintiff], I guess, has made up these allegations, OK? That you have been sexually abusing her.”
After being pressured by Henry’s wife, Taylor says she was made to plead guilty to filing a false report as part of a probation deal, during which she was required to write the apology letters. She was later sent back to live with Henry.
But her return home didn’t end things the way the sheriff’s office may have expected.
Taylor secretly recorded photographic evidence of the abuse, which she later handed to the police.
That evidence ultimately led to Henry’s 2017 arrest and conviction for sexual battery of a child between the ages of 12 and 18 by a custodian, and he is serving 17 years in Florida State Prison, according to court records and information provided by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
In response to the lawsuit, the Sheriff’s Office also told People the case is a ‘publicity stunt’.
To UNILAD, Polk County Sheriff’s Office, said: "Unfortunately, in today’s highly litigious society, lawyers file lawsuits that include false and misleading accusations, including second-guessing nine-year-old criminal investigations. In this case, our deputies did an extensive investigation and made deliberate and rational decisions based upon the information and evidence we had at the time."
The Sheriff's Office also stated: "We look forward to vigorously defending against the baseless and fabricated allegations included in the lawsuit in court."
Taylor is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, along with legal fees and other costs.