Cleared Hill District suspect says some facts ignored
A Hill District man sued a Pittsburgh police detective and the Allegheny County Children, Youth and Families on Thursday, claiming authorities neglected evidence that would have cleared him during a sexual assault investigation.
John Anderson, 42, wrote in a 22-page federal lawsuit that Detective James Goga ignored facts helpful to Anderson during a 2009 inquiry into allegations that Anderson raped his stepdaughter.
Anderson contends his ex-wife, Nicho Bolden-Anderson, and their stepdaughter fabricated the allegations because the couple were involved in a bitter custody dispute.
Police charged Anderson in April 2009 with rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and statutory sexual assault. Prosecutors dropped the charges in January.
Diane Richard, a Pittsburgh police spokeswoman, declined comment, citing pending litigation. CYF spokeswoman Elaine Plunkett also declined comment citing the lawsuit.
Bolden-Anderson and Goga could not be reached for comment.
Anderson wrote in his lawsuit that he had been sexually inactive since a 2000 accident and that he was physically incapable of performing the sexual acts alleged. Anderson also wrote that the stepdaughter's diary made no mention of any sexual abuse.
"The biggest issue here is there were significant facts that were clearly exculpatory — including the journal and the sexual incapability — and the facts were known to CYF workers, facts a judge would want to know," said Peter Kurzweg, Anderson's attorney.
According to the lawsuit, Anderson claimed that Bolden-Anderson "had a custom and practice of falsely alleging that plaintiff was violent in an attempt to manipulate the custody dispute."
The lawsuit claims that a CYF caseworker investigated allegations that Anderson physically abused his stepdaughter and deemed them to be unfounded in February 2009. Two days later, his ex-wife and stepdaughter, whose age was not provided in court documents, filed a new report claiming Anderson had sexually abused the stepdaughter since 2006, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also names CYF caseworkers, the city of Pittsburgh, and his ex-wife and stepdaughter.
