Lawsuit accuses Polk County Sheriff’s Office of failures during 2016 child rape investigation

ORLANDO, Fla. - A new lawsuit accuses the Polk County Sheriff’s Office of a "pattern, policy, practice and custom, of failing to adequately train and supervise its officers resulting in the deprivation of minors’ constitutional rights."

The lawsuit comes after a child was raped by her adoptive father, but police first criminally charged the child instead of her abuser, accusing the little girl of lying.

The backstory:

Taylor Cadle was adopted by her great uncle, Henry Cadle, two days before her ninth birthday. She said it wasn’t long before that adoption that he started sexually abusing her, but she said she kept it a secret for years, worried about being sent back to foster care.

In July 2016, she finally told authorities. However, the detective on the case, Melissa Turnage, allegedly didn’t believe her. 

The lawsuit includes an exchange where Detective Turnage tells the child victim, "If you’re mad because you got your phone taken away, let’s say that now and be done with it. I mean, we had to deal with your poor mom crying out there ‘cause we had to tell her that you're saying that your dad's been having sex with you since you were nine. That broke her heart. It would break her heart even more if it's not true."

Instead of arresting Taylor’s abuser, Detective Turnage charged then-13-year-old Taylor with lying to a law enforcement officer.

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX LOCAL APP

"I think that was a big, a big thing for me," Taylor told FOX 35. "I remember, you know, being so young and not understanding or, um, you know, coming to that comprehension of why nobody was listening to me or why nobody is believing me to begin with."

Taylor sent back to abuser’s house

Taylor’s adoptive parents, including her abuser, waived her right to legal counsel, pressured her to plead guilty to lying to police, and had her move back in with them.

She started getting raped again a month later.  That time around, Taylor took video and photographs of the assault and called 911.

Cadle is now serving a 17-year prison sentence, and the Polk County State Attorney’s Office scrubbed Taylor’s conviction for lying to police.

Brenda Harkavay is one of the attorneys now suing the Polk County Sheriff's Office and Detective Turnage.

"This is probably one of the most horrific, unconscionable things that I've come across," Harkavay told FOX 35. "Particularly because the institution that was created and designed to protect people from harm ended up not only criminalizing and harming Taylor further, but then making it so she was put back in harm's way. And being subjected to further sexual abuse."

No reprimands

The lawsuit states charges like the ones Taylor faced, accusing her of lying to police, happen twice as often in Polk County than the rest of the state.

Detective Turnage had several instances of reprimand for her handling of child sex abuse cases, but wasn’t disciplined or re-trained for them.

She was hired to the Special Victims Unit in October 2015. The next month, her personnel records show she failed to read a suspect their full Miranda rights, which led to that suspect’s alleged confession not being able to be used in court. Taylor says she was not read her Miranda rights when she was being accused of a crime either.

In December 2015, Detective Turnage’s records show she interviewed children who said their father was raping him, but then left for vacation without bringing the suspect in for questioning or updating her supervisors for the case. The suspect was arrested while she was gone, and she was given a letter of guidance calling her actions "inexcusable" but she was not otherwise disciplined or re-trained.

In December 2016, Detective Turnage was issued a reprimand letter after arresting the wrong person – someone who could have been identified visually as the incorrect arrestee, since the suspect had visible tattoos and the person arrested did not. Once again, she was not re-trained.

What the Polk County Sheriff’s Office has to say

FOX 35 News reached out to PCSO about this. 

They told us in a statement, "Our deputies did an extensive investigation and made deliberate and rational decisions based upon the information and evidence we had at the time. We look forward to vigorously defending against these baseless and fabricated allegations in court."

SIGN-UP FOR FOX 35'S BREAKING NEWS, DAILY NEWS NEWSLETTERS

FOX 35 Reporter Marie Edinger asked Taylor for her reaction to that statement.

"I don't really think I have a reaction anymore," she responded.

Damages

The lawsuit says the pain and suffering (physical, emotional, and monetary) that Taylor suffered aren’t over, and will continue on.

"As a direct and proximate result of the Defendant’s acts and omissions, Plaintiff suffered injuries and damages, including severe emotional distress, humiliation, reputational stigma, loss of capacity for enjoyment of life, expenses for treatment and care, and physical and psychological injury from the subsequent sexual assaults that occurred because of Defendant Sheriff Judd’s failure," the lawsuit argues.

The lawsuit asks for a monetary fine against the defendants for "compensatory damages and special damages, punitive damages, cost disbursements, pre- and-post judgment interests, and attorney’s fees.

Taylor says she wants something on top of that, "Anything that prevents another child from… feeling like nobody's listening or nobody's there for them."

There has been one change already made: as a result of this case, the Polk County State Attorney’s Office created a new rule saying administration would need to be consulted before a minor claiming to be a victim of sexual abuse is charged with a crime.

Polk CountyCrime and Public Safety