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Fairfax officers protected sex trafficking ring, lawsuit says. Police chief is accused of helping cover up.
The suit was filed on behalf of a Costa Rican woman identified in the lawsuit only as “Jane Doe.” It says the officers would tip off the trafficking ring to suspend its advertisements on sites like backpage.com in advance of sting operations run by police.
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FALLS CHURCH — A federal lawsuit filed by a prominent civil rights attorney alleges that police officers in Fairfax County protected a sex trafficking ring in Northern Virginia in exchange for free sex from the trafficked women.
The lawsuit also names the former Fairfax County Police chief, Ed Roessler, as a defendant, alleging that he helped cover up for the officers when another detective’s work threatened to expose their wrongdoing.
The suit was filed on behalf of a Costa Rican woman identified in the lawsuit only as “Jane Doe.” It says the officers would tip off the trafficking ring to suspend its advertisements on sites like backpage.com in advance of sting operations run by police.
Victor Glasberg, the lawyer who filed the suit on the Costa Rican woman’s behalf, said in an interview that police have essentially corroborated elements of the woman’s allegations by providing him the names of the officers involved in the alleged misconduct.
When Glasberg first filed the lawsuit in October, he did not know the identities of the officers who were allegedly involved, because his client was never able to learn their names. But he obtained a court order requiring the police department to identify the officers described in the complaint.
Police responded with two names: Michael O. Barbazette of Manassas and Jason J. Mardocco of Gainesville. Neither officer remains on the force.
