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SOUTHEAST TEXAS RECORD

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Lawsuit implicates city of Whitehouse, police chief in alleged sexual assault

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An alleged sexual assault of a Whitehouse woman earlier this year is the subject of a civil rights lawsuit filed Oct. 9 in the Tyler Division of the Eastern District of Texas.

Plaintiff Jessica Johnson is suing the City of Whitehouse and Whitehouse Chief of Police Craig Shelton on claims Shelton forced himself upon her at her apartment last May 14.

Court papers explain that Johnson was in the midst of a separation from her husband when Shelton contacted the complainant about visiting her. Thinking it was Shelton and her spouse wanting to come by the apartment, the suit states, Johnson consented.

Shelton arrived at Johnson’s residence purportedly accompanied by Whitehouse City Manager Kevin Huckabee and Larry Cagle, an information technology worker for the city.

The men toured the apartment and were about to leave, but a sudden rainstorm kept them from exiting, the complaint says. According to Johnson, Shelton, who stood near her bathroom, texted her regarding “information” about her spouse to which she approached him.

The incident in question unfolded when the police chief “stepped into the bathroom and motioned for her to follow him.”

“As she stepped toward him he immediately grabbed the back of her head and buttocks and forcibly tried to kiss her,” the suit says.

Johnson adds she “did not want to scream and frighten her eight year old son,” divulging Shelton continued sexually assaulting her in her bedroom.

“The plaintiff continued to desperately beg him to ‘Stop’ and ‘Please don’t do this’,” the suit says. “She told him what he was doing was wrong.”

Shelton, who is married, reportedly told Johnson after releasing her to “keep this between us.”

The suit ultimately accuses Shelton of committing the act while on the clock for the city.

“The actions of the defendant Shelton constituted a criminal sexual assault which the plaintiff will never be able to forget,” it says. “By taking such actions while wearing his badge, uniform and gun, Shelton’s actions were an exercise and assertion of his official authority as a commissioned peace officer for the City of Whitehouse.”

Johnson argues she did not consent “to the gross and vulgar conduct.”

Consequently, she seeks unspecified monetary damages and a jury trial.

Attorney Charles H. Clark of the Law Offices of Charles H. Clark, P.C. in Tyler is representing her.

Tyler Division of the Eastern District of Texas Case No. 6:15-CV-892

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