Transgender woman sues over Las Vegas jail assault

A transgender woman who was sexually assaulted in jail is suing Nevada, Clark County, the Metropolitan Police Department and her attacker, alleging that the three government entities failed to protect her and another person whom the assailant groped minutes after the attack.

Christina Church, represented by lawyers Anthony Sgro, Jayme Martinez and Elaine Odeh, filed a federal lawsuit on Monday, alleging that her civil rights were violated.

“The sexual assault of Ms. Church was not an isolated incident but rather the direct result of systemic failures by Clark County Detention Center corrections officers, Clark County, and LVMPD,” the complaint states. “CCDC maintained policies that directly endangered transgender women like Ms. Church.”

Neither Metro nor county officials responded to requests for comment.

The complaint cites the 14th Amendment, which requires that states provide equal protection to all under the law.

In March 2022, Church was arrested on a warrant for trafficking a controlled substance and placed in protective custody at the Clark County Detention Center. According to the complaint, Church has lived her entire life as a female and legally changed her gender to female in February 2015. She was not separated from male inmates while detained, the lawsuit states.

In December 2023, she was sexually assaulted at the jail by a man named Kareem Thomas. The suit states that Thomas shoved Church against a wall, held her there, exposed himself and sexually assaulted her.

Thomas had been in custody on multiple charges, including sexual assault, battery by strangulation to commit sexual assault, and robbery, according to court records. The previous year, he also had been arrested for sexual assault and coercion with force or the threat of force.

Fifteen minutes after Thomas attacked Church, he assaulted another transgender detainee in the same facility, the lawsuit states.

Court records indicate that Thomas was later criminally charged in connection with the jail assaults of Church and another inmate. In February 2024, Thomas pleaded guilty to attempted sexual assault, received a prison sentence of four to 10 years and was ordered to register as a sex offender for life.

‘Ignored’ by CCDC staff

After Church was attacked, according to the lawsuit, she sought mental health care for “extreme emotional distress.” Four written requests, or “kites,” she submitted for mental health care were “ignored” by correctional staff employed by Metro, the suit alleges.

“Instead of providing support or treatment, officers woke Ms. Church in the middle of the night one week later, handcuffed her without cause, yelled at her about submitting kites, and interrogated her, further exacerbating her emotional trauma,” the complaint states.

Church’s lawyers also allege that, despite Thomas’ “known history as a violent sexual predator,” Clark County did not conduct an individualized safety assessment, as required by the Prison Rape Elimination Act.

Additionally, the lawsuit alleges that the county had a “deliberate indifference to known risks” of housing transgender women alongside male inmates with documented histories of sexual violence.

“These failures reflect systemic neglect that created conditions for foreseeable harm,” the suit states.

As a result of the attack, Church’s lawyers said she suffered physical injury and pain, emotional distress and depression.

Church pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell and was later given probation.

Contact Akiya Dillon at adillon@reviewjournal.com.