The Associated Press
Tiverton, R.I. (AP) -- A Tiverton police sergeant and Rhode Island National guardsman is suing town and department officials, charging them with retaliatory behavior against him.
Sgt. Charles Mulcahy is suing several former officers, superiors and local officials, two of whom are still Town Council members, for allegedly retaliating against him with “extreme and outrageous conduct” for blowing the whistle a decade ago on a detective who was convicted on drug trafficking and bribery charges, The Providence Journal reported.
That former detective, William Sedoma, was convicted of aiding drug traffickers, bribery, extortion, fraud, corruption and several other offenses. He is serving a 24-year federal prison sentence.
Mulcahy, who’s been with the department for 17 years, filed the lawsuit in 1996. The suit had been delayed for many reasons including Mulcahy’s yearlong deployment to Iraq.
Last week, a jury was chosen and opening statements were given in Newport Superior Court. Mulcahy testified and was to continue testifying on Monday.
“Mulcahy has been threatened and discriminated against by those he is suing regarding his compensation, terms, conditions location and privileges of employment,” the filed documents stated. “Such threatening and discriminatory actions have seriously affected his prospective career as a police officer.”
Mulcahy’s lawsuit stated that his suspicions regarding the detective were ignored by the police chief and resulted in retaliatory behavior, including threats by fellow officers.
He was placed on “emergency administrative leave, pending receipt of a satisfactory psychological evaluation,” stated the lawsuit. The leave and other suspensions lasted on and off for almost two years.
His suit stated that complaints to the Town Council, including a request that the council investigate Mulcahy’s suspicions of misconduct and corruption within the department, were “ignored”
The police didn’t begin investigating Sedoma until 1997_three years after Mulcahy first reported his suspicions_when a drug sting that an undercover officer had been working on for days failed. The officer suspected someone within had tipped off the drug ring. Sedoma was arrested in 1999 and convicted in 2001.
Mulcahy is asking for compensation for intentional affliction of emotional distress, negligent hiring and retention, defamation, invasion of privacy and a couple of other charges, according to The Providence Journal. The complaint was filed under the Rhode Island Whistleblowers’ Protection Act.
The trial is expected to last four to six weeks with about two dozen witnesses testifying.