TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Jun 26, 2024

A third lawsuit has been filed against Johnson City, its police force and more than two dozen officers by a woman who says police took bribes to protect a serial rapist, WJHL reports. Mikayla Evans alleges that local businessman Sean Williams drugged her and then pushed her from a fifth-story window during an attempted sexual assault. Tennessee Lookout reports that she suffered life-threatening injuries that left her bedridden for two years. The suit also alleges that in exchange for cash, police did not investigate, arrest or charge Williams; intentionally destroyed evidence; and allowed Williams to destroy evidence. The new suit is the latest in an ongoing investigation. Last year, a lawsuit filed by nine women alleged a wider corrupt scheme by Johnson City police to shield Williams after he was accused of sexual assault by multiple women. In 2022, former Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Kateri Dahl filed a whistleblower suit against the city and police chief arguing that her efforts to investigate Williams were thwarted. Williams is currently in federal custody awaiting trial on federal and state charges connected to sexual exploitation of children and a previous escape from custody.