SCRANTON – Another woman is suing the City of Wilkes-Barre over allegations police officer Robert Collins sexually assaulted her.
The unnamed R.T. Doe is the eighth woman to sue over the alleged actions of Collins, who is facing rape charges in criminal court.
Like the other women, R.T. Doe says Collins used his position to force her into sex acts. In her Sept. 11 lawsuit in federal court, R.T. Doe says she was riding in a car in 2018 unaware that there were drugs in it.
Collins pulled the car over near Heights Murray Elementary School and groped R.T. Doe’s breasts, genital area and buttocks, the suit says. Collins let her go but reached out to her several days later on Facebook, saying she owed him for the favor of not charging her, the suit says.
The suit charges Wilkes-Barre with knowing about Collins’ behavior for years because of multiple complaints. The City did nothing to stop his behavior, the suit says.
“By knowing of and tolerating Collins’ misconduct, and by failing to scrutinize and correct Collins’ conduct, Wilkes-Barre City established a municipal custom that was deliberately indifferent to the rights of the plaintiff and others and caused them injury which could have and should have been prevented by appropriate disciplinary action,” the suit says.
Other women have alleged Collins forced them into intercourse, oral sex and manual sex under threat of arrest. Their lawsuits have been stayed pending the outcome of Collins’ criminal trial.
Wilkes-Barre has already responded to the lawsuit with a motion to dismiss it, filed a week after the case was filed.