ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — One of the men who accused a former North County Police Cooperative officer of sexually assaulting him while he was in custody is now suing that officer, the police chief and the municipalities patrolled by that department.
The plaintiff said former police officer Marcellis Blackwell, 34, stopped and detained him for no reason while he was working on a construction site in Wellston in November 2022 and fondled him while he was handcuffed. He said Blackwell searched him for any weapons or illegal narcotics and did not find anything.
However, the man was arrested for an outstanding warrant and taken into custody.
Editor's note: The above-related video previously aired on Feb. 1, 2024.
While Blackwell was transporting him to the booking station, he "pulled into a secluded industrial area and forced plaintiff out of the patrol vehicle while plaintiff's hands were bound behind his back ... lifted (the) plaintiff's shirt, placed his hand underneath plaintiff's clothing and on (his) genitals, moved his hand down and back along plaintiff's genitals without consent," according to the lawsuit
5 On Your Side does not name victims of alleged sexual assault unless they give their consent.
Blackwell, 34, was indicted last month on multiple federal charges related to the alleged assaults.
The indictment superseded Blackwell's original indictment in September, bringing the total number of charges to 36. He now faces 19 counts of deprivation of rights under color of law, specifically the right to bodily autonomy, and 17 counts of altering records in a federal investigation.
According to the FBI, between Nov. 8, 2022, and June 5, 2023, Blackwell "fondled the genitals" of 19 men who he had detained or restrained. He is also accused of aggravated sexual abuse for sodomizing one of the men with his finger, according to the indictment.
Blackwell's actions also constituted kidnapping, the indictment said. Including an additional count of altering the records of another arrest, the indictment named 20 total victims.
The lawsuit filed Wednesday accused police Chief John Buchanan of hiring Blackwell despite an alleged criminal background that included fraudulent business activity that defrauded his employees, an insurance company and members of the public. It also accused Buchanan of failing to investigate Blackwell, assign another officer to work with him, review video and audio recordings, and overall failing to review his interactions with detainees.
Buchanan told 5 On Your Side he would not comment on pending litigation.
The lawsuit also named the municipalities that contract with the police department for services, including Beverly Hills, Uplands Park, Dellwood, Pine Lawn, Wellston, Vinita Park, Village of Hanley Hills and Velda Village Hills.
It accused them of failing to properly train staff to ensure detainees would not be sexually abused or otherwise harmed by police officers. The department also allegedly failed to train other officers to prevent the abuse and avoided accountability if there was a pattern of practice of abuse.
“Defendants failed to properly inform staff how to identify and report abusive conduct by other staff members, failed to direct staff to monitor new staff members and failed to train staff to accept, investigate, verify and act upon complaints regarding police officers’ abusive conduct,” according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also accused the municipalities of failing to establish policies or official customs to ensure that detainees would not be sexually abused or otherwise harmed by police officers.
“Defendants created an environment whereby police officers could abuse detainees without ramification,” according to the lawsuit, which also claimed a different officer physically abused a detainee and was allowed to remain on the force “without repercussion, despite other officers witnessing the activity.”
The North County Police Cooperative was formed in 2015 to serve municipalities in north St. Louis County. Its coverage area includes about 4.6 square miles and a population of about 17,000 residents, according to the department’s website.