Lawsuit Portrays A Culture Of Rape, Sodomy And Sexual Harassment At The NYPD
~ June, 2021 ~ A former NYPD cop was repeatedly raped, sodomized and mentally tormented by a cadre of officers over the course of five years but when her case was brought to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, they declined to prosecute, an explosive federal lawsuit filed Tuesday claims.
Maria Mendez, who last worked in the 32nd precinct and resigned from the department in January 2019 after a 14-year career, said she was raped by two officers, one detective and one FDNY firefighter and was regularly forced to ingest oxycodone, ecstacy and alcohol, her Manhattan federal court lawsuit claims.
Mendez said the “incalculable” amount of rapes she endured were so bad, she suffered “physical deformities to her vagina and anus requiring surgical repair” and she was left suicidal and suffering from anxiety, depression and post traumatic stress disorder, the lawsuit alleges.
Mendez further claims she was forced to buy drugs from FDNY Firefighter Evan Santana, who also raped her, after he obtained opioids and other contraband by stealing it from the homes of dead people.
The suit paints a vivid picture of sexual abuse and harassment that ran rampant at the precinct where Mendez was not only regularly raped but was subjected to sexualized comments and requests by lietuenants and sergeants — and, eventually, deaf ears when she tried to report the crimes.
Lieutenant Julio Calle allegedly asked Mendez to “spoon feed him in his bed because she’s Dominican” and also asked to suck her toes while Sergeant Alfred Gallicchio is accused of taking pictures of a sergeant while she pumped breast milk — and then daring a subordinate to steal the milk and drink it, which he did.
Gallicchio, a union delegate, is also accused of asking Mendez to perform threesomes and making grotqeuse comments like “let me drink the p–y juice” and “I’ll lick your p–y all day” and other remarks about having sex with her.
When Mendez confided in Lieutenant Filastin Srour, a woman, about the constant rapes and abuse she was enduring, Srour allegedly failed to take the necessary action she was required to as a supervisor. Instead, she called Mendez a “slut” and threatened that if she “didn’t stop making false allegations against good officers … she’d be forced to take action against her,” the suit claims.
Further, videos of Mendez being raped and assaulted were regularly shared across the department in a group chat, where high-ranking officers like Deputy Chief Michael Baker and Captain Neil Zuber allegedly viewed the content, but did nothing about it, the suit claims.
Mendez said the abuse started with her former partner Officer Ryan Marrero in 2014 when he slipped her two oxycodone pills and started raping and sodomizing her on a regular basis, the suit claims.
Once photos and videos of the rapes made their rounds in the department, other cops, including Officer Jimmy Gutierres and Detective Michael Ganz, demanded sex acts from her and then raped her, the suit states.
During one occasion, Marrero forced her to attend an NYPD Christmas party with him and said if she didn’t, he’d tell her husband about the drugs and nude pictures he forced her to take.
Following the party, Marrero allegedly grabbed her by throat, shoved a silver handgun inside of her mouth and ordered her into the back seat of his car where he proceeded to rape her vaginally, anally and orally.
When she told him to stop, Marrero allegedly told her to “shut the f–k up” and if she “doesn’t stop resisting,” he’s going to take pictures of her and send it to her husband. He then called a fellow officer, Peter Montalbano, and told him to join him “so he can have some fun too with a Dominican slut like her,” the suit claims.
Following the rape, Mendez said in her suit she was afraid to tell a supervisor because “who would believe that a trained police officer could be sexually assaulted much less by another police officer” and anytime she tried to report the abuse afterwards, superiors did nothing to help.
Mendez said Marrero would repeatedly rape her on a series of public streets all across Harlem, close to NYPD Headquarters and Manhattan Criminal Court when they were there for hearings.
She further claims the rapes happened in hotels, department vehicles, the police officers lounge, the female bathroom and locker room and while out on emergency calls, including one where Marrero allegedly forced her to the edge of a roof and threatened to throw her off.
On numerous occasions, Marrero “brutally punched,” “kicked” and “strangled” Mendez and forced his “fist” inside her anus and vagina, causing her a series of injuries, including some that required medical attention.
He also subjected his department canine to abuse by hitting him in front of Mendez as a form of intimdation and regularly talked about how he liked having sex with unconscius women because they don’t fight back and showed her naked pictures of teenage girls he claimed to have had sex with.
In July 2019, Mendez was interviewed by the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau and members of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Sex Crimes Unit and provided reams of evidence to back up her claims.
The evidence included mobile devices, 20 activity logs and more than 100 pairs of “soiled” underwear and a DNA sample but a year later, she was informed the Manhattan DA wouldn’t be prosecuting because they couldn’t “prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a crime has occurred.”
To this date, Mendez doesn’t know about the status of the IAB probe.
The NYPD didn’t return a request for comment and the city’s Law Department, which handles such lawsuits, said they won’t be commenting “before all the facts were in” and until they’ve “had a chance to review the suit.”
The Manhattan DA’s office also did not immediately return a request for comment.
Additional reporting by Ben Feuerherd
A version of this article originally appeared here on nypost.com
