A prominent civil rights attorney has filed a lawsuit that alleges that police officers in Fairfax County protected a Northern Virginia sex trafficking ring in exchange for free sex from the trafficked women. Via Mynbc15.com:

The lawsuit also names 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 online advertisements 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 police have essentially corroborated elements of the woman's allegations by providing him the names of the officers involved in the alleged misconduct.

I can't say I'm surprised. As a police reporter, we heard rumors all the time and occasionally a cop would even be indicted and convicted for threatening a woman with a criminal charge in exchange for sex. A range of sexual misconduct is relatively common among police, especially in metropolitan areas. But I would hope that impeding an official investigation into sex trafficking so you can force yourself on a trafficking victim is still unusual.