Gymnastics Coach Sues Cobb Cops for Malicious Prosecution Over Child-Athlete's Sex Abuse Claims
Patty Hermann, who coaches special needs children, was arrested jailed and spent two years on a sex offender registry before Cobb prosecutors dropped the charges due to insufficient evidence.
May 29, 2020 at 05:24 PM
5 minute read
An Illinois woman has filed a malicious prosecution complaint against two Cobb County police detectives over since-dismissed charges of aggravated sexual battery that were leveled by a child.
Patty Hermann, who oversees a gymnastics training program for special needs children, spent nearly two years under indictment in Cobb County before prosecutors finally dropped the case for insufficient evidence. Her lawsuit claims the teen gymnast's "wildly inconsistent and improbable narratives" should never have been used as the basis of criminal charges.
The underlying facts are "jaw-dropping," said attorney Patrick Walsh of Chicago's Walsh Law Group.
For 33 years, Hermann has run the "Elite Stars" program in Schaumburg, just outside Chicago, he said. "There have never been any complaints. Ever," he said.
That changed when "M.B.," then 13, who manifested "hypersexualized" behavior, returned from a trip to Georgia and told her mother that Hermann sexually assaulted her.
According to Walsh and the complaint filed Friday in federal court in Georgia's Northern District by Walsh's co-counsel, Macon civil rights lawyer Charles Cox Jr., the case began in 2015 when M.B., who had been a member of the program for four years, was among a group that came to Cobb County for a gymnastics meet.
M.B., who has Down syndrome, was known by coaches, other gymnasts and parents to have a sexual fixation, the complaint said, including a history of trying to look at others in the restroom, kiss other athletes and coaches on the mouth, and using her "tagline" of "put a finger in my butt" or "I'll stick my thumb up your butt."
During the trip, another gymnast called her mother to complain that M.B. threatened her, tried to pull off her leotard and said she wanted to have sex with her, the complaint said.
After the group returned home, M.B.'s mother called the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and said her daughter said Hermann had "put her finger in my butt" and touched her vagina.
A physical exam showed no evidence of any sexual abuse, the complaint said.
M.B.'s mother also filed a complaint with the Cobb County Police Department, which asked the DuPage County Children's Advocacy Center to interview the teen and a younger athlete from the trip who also has Down syndrome.
The interviews revealed numerous "inconsistencies," the complaint said. Cobb Detective Sgt. Daniel Roberson and Detective Jonathan McFarland went to Schaumburg and interviewed Hermann, who cooperated and provided evidence that she was not at the site of the meet when the alleged incident occurred.
The recorded interview, which "provided exculpatory evidence," was somehow lost or destroyed afterward, the complaint said.
Illinois DFACS conducted a parallel investigation, and a supervisor "determined that the allegations lacked credibility and recommended that the case be unfounded,'" the complaint said.
Nonetheless, in October 2015 the detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Hermann.
Hermann agreed to come to Cobb County voluntarily but was instead arrested by Schaumberg police and spent two weeks in the Cook County Jail. She was shackled for a three-day trip to Georgia and spent another three days in the Cobb County Jail before being released on bond.
After her arrest, Illinois DFCS indicted Hermann, ordering that she be placed on the state's sex offender registry.
"Illinois DCFS changed its finding and indicted Ms. Hermann solely because defendants prosecuted her, not because of new evidence," the complaint said.
In October 2016, Hermann was indicted for aggravated sexual battery, aggravated sexual battery against a child under 16 and cruelty to children.
Between then and May 2018, Hermann was required to come to Georgia for monthly calendar calls, the complaint said. The Cobb County District Attorney asked for continuances at each calendar call between November 2016 and May 2018.
In June 2018, Cobb County ADA Hannah Palmquist entered a nolle prosequi for the case due to insufficient evidence.
"Where probable cause existed at the time of arrest, in recent interviews witnesses to other circumstances surrounding the incident are providing inconsistent and contradictory accounts, preventing the state from being able to prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt," wrote Palmquist on the form.
The case "was dismissed without Ms. Hermann or her lawyer present in court, because the prosecutor understood there was not enough, or any, evidence to convict," the complaint said.
The arrest "irreparably destroyed" Hermann's reputation, forcing her resignation from Elite Stars and barring her from contact with children until her name was removed from the sex offender registry.
"She also suffered severe chronic and acute anxiety and accrued approximately $155,000 in legal fees, costs of defense and expert fees," the complaint said.
Her lawsuit names McFarland and Roberson in their individual capacities, and levels claims including conspiracy to violate Hermann's civil rights to due process and malicious prosecution.
Because of the detectives' actions, it said, Hermann "suffered grievous harm including, but not limited to, being indicted, arrested, jailed, prosecuted, permanent reputational damage, lost wages, lost opportunities, severe physical injury, severe emotional injury, attorney's fees and costs of litigation."
The complaint seeks $5 million in damages.
Schwall said he sent ante litem notices to the county, DA's office and police department but has received no reply.
There was no response from the office of Cobb County Attorney H. William Rowling, Jr. Friday afternoon.
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