There are new developments in the case of a deputy constable, Christopher Kerr, accused of inappropriately touching a woman during an arrest.
The victim has filed a lawsuit against Harris County and the Deputy’s former boss, and she wants $150,000 for deprivation of civil rights, physical injury and mental anguish. The deputy’s former boss is Harris County Precinct 3 Constable Ken Jones.
Christopher Kerr is accused of pulling over a female driver on the Sam Houston Tollway near John Ralston Road last year for not having an EZ tag. And while detaining her in his squad car, the woman says Deputy Kerr handcuffed her and then proceeded to grope and fondle her.
She says Kerr then placed his hands under her skirt and fondled her.
"Deputy Kerr then told Plaintiff that his penis was erect and that she needed to 'adjust it' or she would go to jail," the suit says.
The traffic stop, her lawsuit alleges, lasted about 30 minutes. But there is not any video record of it, because video of the incident was erased from the camera in Kerr's patrol car.
The constable says the video was not erased, rather they found that Kerr turned off the recording equipment and was fired because of it during their investigation of him.
And this was not the first time Kerr had been fired from Precinct 3. A year before the alleged groping, the constable let him go for violating policy during off-duty work by spending time at home instead of on the job.
Months later, the constable says he gave Kerr a second chance.
The lawyer for the woman says, "The truth is, when Constable Ken Jones rehired Officer Kerr, he put a sexual predator back out on the street in a constable's uniform."
There is a criminal case pending against Kerr. The Harris County District Attorney's Office says it remains under investigation and will be resolved by the end of grand jury testimony, which is next Thursday.
