PORTAGE COUNTY — A lawsuit was filed Tuesday against the Portage County Sheriff’s Office by Mantua Police Officer Miranda Brothers after a child endangerment case against her was dismissed, according to CBS affiliate WOIO.
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“We are trying to find out what it is or what caused them to initiate this operation against her in the first place, and why they treated her so differently from any other parent in a similar situation,” Brothers’ attorney, Eric Fink, said.
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Fink said there was no evidence or probable cause to prove the allegations.
“Although she was charged with leaving the child alone with a registered sex offender, each of the officers that testified stated that they never saw any contact with the registered sex offender,” Fink said.
Brothers was arrested in January 2024, her attorney said she was blindsided.
The lawsuit claims the sheriff’s office “demonstrated malice” when they prosecuted Brothers’ case.
The lawsuit also said the sheriff’s office violated Brothers’ constitutional right to parent her child.
Finally, Brothers’ lawsuit said the Portage County Sheriff’s Office intentionally inflicted emotional distress. The lawsuit cites in part the removal of Brothers’ child from her care, according to WOIO.
“The conduct of the Portage County Sheriff’s Office and of Detective Romo of initiating a prosecution against the Plaintiff Brothers without probable cause to believe that Plaintiff Brothers committed the crime of Endangering Children was so extreme and outrageous that it went beyond all possible bounds decency and is intolerable in a civilized community,” Brothers’ lawsuit states.
The lawsuit claims that when deputies went through her phone, a detective found private photos of her, unrelated to the case, and shared them.
“Law enforcement went through it, and they could not find any evidence of any wrongdoing on her cell phone or her child’s tablet,” Fink said. “They did however find several pictures which they then passed around themselves that had nothing to do with the case. [They were explicit in nature?] Yes.”
Brothers is asking for hundreds of thousands of dollars from the sheriff’s office for damages in the lawsuit.
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