Louisville Metro Police Department faces sexual harassment lawsuit from officer

A Louisville Metro Police officer has filed a lawsuit against her department alleging sexual harassment by two male officers, including one who she alleges sent her unwanted photos of his genitals after she rebuffed his romantic advances.

Louisville attorney Sara Collins filed the suit in Jefferson Circuit Court on Tuesday morning on behalf of LMPD officer Christine Silk, who joined the department last year.

“When police officers sign up for this job, they recognize there is risk and danger from the outside; they can be harmed, they risk their lives to protect their community. But the danger and risk is assumed from the outside,” Collins told The Courier Journal. “When my client faced danger and risk from inside the ‘thin blue line’ — and she dealt with perpetrators within the thin blue line — she was unprepared and angry. And that is a danger that absolutely no police officer should face.”

In a statement, to The Courier Journal, an LMPD spokesperson said "LMPD will not tolerate sexual misconduct within this agency as those behaviors run afoul of our mission to provide a safe work environment for all sworn and professional staff. We take all allegations of this nature seriously and immediately launch internal investigations once they are brought to our attention per our Standard Operating Procedures."

As a result of the allegations mentioned in the suit, the spokesperson said, one investigation was completed in 2023, with that officer "disciplined and transferred" while a second investigation is ongoing, with that officer "reassigned with powers limited."

At a press conference Tuesday, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said: "I'm not sure I'm aware of that lawsuit."

Lawsuits represent only one side of a legal dispute.

The suit comes just days after LMPD Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel was suspended indefinitely over the way she handled allegations of sexual misconduct raised against a member of her command staff by another senior officer. And criticism of LMPD's failures to investigate sexual misconduct in its ranks featured prominently in the Department of Justice's scathing investigation of the agency released last year.

According to the lawsuit, Silk, a 33-year-old mother and nine-year U.S. Army veteran, alleges Dale Cottongim, a former LMPD training academy instructor, began making inappropriate comments to her during her first week on the force, including asking her if she “had a one-night stand to have your son?”

When Silk had difficulty finding child care, Cottongim — in front of Silk’s classmates — allegedly said she should “whore herself out” and should “go on a date, take a guy home, sleep with him, and then [she] would have childcare.”

Silk eventually reported Cottongim to a training supervisor, and an internal affairs investigation was opened into the incidents, the lawsuit said.

According to a disciplinary document obtained by The Courier Journal under Kentucky's open records law, Cottongim violated department policies on conduct unbecoming and courtesy "regarding comments" concerning an unidentified officer's "potential childcare issues." That same document exonerated Cottongim of sexual harassment.

As a result of that investigation, he received a letter of reprimand and was involuntarily transferred out of the training division, but did not get a suspension or pay reduction, according to the lawsuit.

Later in 2023, Justin LeMon was assigned to be Silk’s field training officer.

According to the lawsuit, LeMon repeatedly asked if she would be interested in him if he were not married and complained about problems in his marriage. The lawsuit also alleges he “frequently” touched Silk’s arm while they would ride together in an LMPD patrol vehicle and that he on one occasion “brushed against her lower breast as he attempted to raise her shirt” after she took off her body armor on a hot day.

One day while she was driving an LMPD patrol car, “LeMon asked Christine to read a sexual fantasy he had written about her on the note section of his phone,” the lawsuit said, adding that he held the phone up to her face as she drove.

"On or about" the last day they were paired together during her training, the lawsuit said, LeMon told her he was sexually aroused after attempting to give her a hug and "repeatedly insisted she look at his crotch." When she tried to leave her personal vehicle, the lawsuit alleges, LeMon held her door open and insisted she look at his genitals.

In November of last year, the lawsuit said, LeMon sent Silk “multiple sexual text messages” including a photo of his penis.

Later, LeMon asked why she didn’t respond to the sexually explicit photo he sent her.

“I’m not trying to comment on that because like I’ve told you I’m not interested in sleeping with you or anyone else on the department,” she texted back, according to text messages included in the lawsuit. “I’m trying not to say the wrong thing and I don’t’ want to upset you but I feel like I’ve been consistent in saying that.”

When she was assigned another field training officer, she confided in them that LeMon “was inappropriate with her and inappropriate with civilians,” the lawsuit said.

In April of this year, Silk sent a memorandum to an LMPD major outlining “specific instances of Officer LeMon’s misconduct towards her and civilians,” which resulted in an internal affairs investigation being opened into LeMon. That investigation is ongoing, according to Silk's attorney.

As a result of Silk's complaints, the lawsuit said, officers were told to stay away from Silk, and as a result of reporting misconduct, she has fears that she will lose her job.

The lawsuit further alleges Silk has faced retaliation and discrimination within LMPD as a result of the complaints she launched against Cottongim and LeMon.

Silk is currently on administrative reassignment pending the investigation of the fatal May 10 police shooting of Nicholas Pierce, 43, in Pleasure Ridge Park. She was one of three officers to fire their weapons in that incident after Pierce ran toward officers while holding a knife.

Attempts to reach LeMon and Cottingim for comment were unsuccessful.

Reach reporter Josh Wood at jwood@courier-journal.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @JWoodJourno.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville police officer alleges sexual harassment in lawsuit