dailycomet.com (Louisiana): Lawsuit claims police wrongly labeled man a ‘child predator’.
A Houma man claims in a federal lawsuit that a city police detective sent personal information about him to Terrebonne Parish schools along with a false notice labeling him "a child predator."
Ronald Stuard, 47, filed the suit in U.S. District Court seeking an unspecified amount of money.
The court papers name detective Angela Domangue and Terrebonne Parish government as defendants. The suit, which seeks unspecified damages, alleges the incident caused Stuard mental anguish, anxiety and embarrassment.
A written notice Houma Police and Domangue sent to schools acknowledges he is not a registered sex offender but says officers want to "keep the kids safe" and "be in his face" if Stuard is found near a campus, the court papers say.
"Although he told her he was merely resting between running intervals on the public track, the teacher called the police," the suit states. Houma Police arrived and - without charging Stuard with a crime - asked him to leave and not to return.
The lawsuit says police officers, specifically Domangue, investigated his background. It also alleges his picture, birthdate, descriptions of his physical appearance and the car he drove and other personal information were sent to several local schools, which are not named in the suit.
