HOUSTON – Harris County has settled a federal lawsuit involving Precinct 1 Alan Rosen and other high-ranking constables for $1.53 million.
The lawsuit involves the human trafficking unit and sting operations centered around bachelor parties.
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Three women brought the case to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas in May of 2021.
Assistant Chief Deputy Chris Gore, with approval from Constable Rosen, decided to run the bachelor party sting operations. These stings involved setting up undercover operations in hotel rooms with both men and women deputies pretending to be at a party. The female deputies acted like other prostitutes to make the real prostitutes feel comfortable and agree to sex for money, which would lead to arrests.
Court documents state Constable Rosen “attended at least one of these ‘parties’ personally.”
However, records indicate these operations didn’t catch more criminals but instead provided an excuse for the male deputies to have fun. The operations were approved by the county and followed department policy, despite being ethically questionable.
Chief Deputy Gore chose young, attractive Latina deputies without undercover training for these operations based on his personal preferences, according to the initial complaint.
One such deputy, Liz Gomez, was subjected to sexual harassment and assault by Gore. The court documents indicate he made her buy revealing clothes, which he approved by saying whether they were “slutty enough.” He also forced her to accompany him to a sex shop to buy sex toys with county money and made inappropriate comments.
During the stings, Gore instructed the deputies to not mention his presence in reports, despite his involvement being crucial. Female deputies had to wear revealing clothes and endure Gore’s physical advances while he was only in boxer shorts, often drunk and fully aroused according to the complaint.
It goes on to state the women were pressured to drink alcohol during these operations, creating a party atmosphere instead of a professional one. Gore ensured none of these inappropriate activities were recorded for official use.
Gomez eventually requested to leave the team and faced harassment for it, according to her attorney. She was replaced by Marissa Sanchez, who underwent similar mistreatment.
Sanchez was chosen without proper training, subjected to harassment, and forced to participate in these stings, documents stated. Gore also made her perform sexually suggestive acts and handled her bra inappropriately during operations.
Felecia McKinney, another deputy, was similarly mistreated and ordered to partake in an undercover operation at a massage parlor where she was sexually assaulted to provide evidence for an arrest. Records tell us, this assault was unnecessary as there was already sufficient evidence for an arrest. After the assault, McKinney was left to handle her trauma alone without any support from the department.
Jacquelyn Aluotto, who is a human trafficking advocate who started the No Trafficking Zone around arenas and schools, witnessed these abuses and reported them.
Despite her efforts, her complaints were ignored, and she was transferred and eventually terminated for speaking up. Aluotto is waiting for a ruling on her motion to dismiss with prejudice, wrapping up the case legally.
Advocates told KPRC 2, that these operations were a cover for misconduct and abuse by the male deputies, especially Chief Gore, who exploited his position for personal pleasure and harassed the female deputies under his command.
All of the women involved in the case share they have faced some sort of retaliation for speaking up.
One of their attorneys Cordt Akers tells us, “It’s been a long road. Our clients are happy to have this in their rearview mirror and be able to move on with their lives.”
Constable Rosen and the deputies involved were dismissed from the case before the settlement was made.
