Judge sets phone hearing on settlement in JCPD sex assault investigations case
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — A federal judge won't rule on a proposed $4.2 million settlement between Johnson City and women who reported sexual assaults to its police department from 2018-2022 until after a telephone hearing June 24.
U.S. District Judge Travis McDonough made the ruling Thursday, 10 days after plaintiffs' attorneys filed their motion for approval of the class action settlement.
Johnson City and the plaintiffs' attorneys have already agreed to an overall settlement amount of $28 million. The bulk of that money will go to the original plaintiffs, nine women who said they were victimized by now-convicted sex offender Sean Williams and that the Johnson City Police Department (JCPD) didn't adequately investigate the downtown resident.
That settlement doesn't require the judge's approval, but the $4.2 million one does. It relates to an added element to the original lawsuit that came following release of the 'Daigle Report' — an audit of JCPD's sexual assault investigations the city commissioned in 2022 after a completely separate lawsuit related to Sean Williams was filed.
That report found that while a number of JCPD's investigations between 2018 and 2022 were adequate, the department had a number of 'certain investigative practices' that 'could negatively affect the quality and efficiency of their response to sexual assault cases.'
JC's new 'transparency' webpage covers police lawsuits related to Sean Williams
Daigle noted a common theme running through many of these weaknesses: 'JCPD's response to sexual assault was challenged based on gender-based stereotypes and bias.'
The report, and the addition of a plaintiff whose reported assault did not involve Sean Williams, led to the filing of a class action that's now the subject of the settlement proposal.
Johnson City has consistently denied all allegations in the lawsuits related to Williams and JCPD sexual assault investigations. The city also says JCPD has implemented the recommendations in Daigle's report and is following a new sexual assault protocol devised by First District Attorney General Steve Finney's office — an assertion Finney has confirmed.
The class settlement would include both monetary relief — attorneys estimate about $7,000 to more than 350 people — and something called 'equitable relief.'
Equitable relief would come in the form of plaintiffs' attorneys being provided audits of sexual assault investigations by JCPD every quarter for two years so they could review how well JCPD is complying with a new sexual crimes protocol it adopted in late 2023.
The motion for settlement approval is complex, and McDonough wrote Thursday, 'a telephonic hearing will aid in the resolution of Plaintiffs' pending motion for preliminary approval.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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