Va. Beach sheriff, deputies named in sexual assault suit

NORFOLK

A Virginia Beach woman has filed a $2 million lawsuit against Virginia Beach Sheriff Paul Lanteigne and several current and former deputies claiming she was sexually assaulted in a cell when she was 13.

The suit says the attack occurred in 1999 when the girl was in a holding cell next to the Virginia Beach Juvenile Court. She says she was attacked by three other prisoners.

"This violent sexual assault and abduction lasted for a number of hours," the suit says. The girl says in the suit that she was beaten and sodomized with a high-heeled shoe.

The lawsuit says that Lanteigne, who was chief deputy at the time, and the other deputies failed to properly protect her.

The suit does not say why the girl was in custody.

She is identified in the lawsuit, but The Virginian-Pilot has a policy not to identify victims of sexual attacks.

A spokeswoman for the sheriff did not respond to a message Thursday.

The suit, made public Wednesday in federal court, had not been served on the department as of Thursday.

Tim McGlone, (757) 446-2343, tim.mcglone@pilotonline.com