Post by Critique on Feb 12, 2007 6:25:08 GMT -5
02/05/2007
By GENEVIEVE REILLY
TRUMBULL, CONNECTICUT — A settlement has been reached between the town and a local family who claimed in a lawsuit the Police Department violated their rights by erroneously executing a search warrant at their home while searching for evidence of a sex crime.
Grove Street resident Veronica Larsson and her daughter, Erin, filed the federal lawsuit last September after an incorrect e-mail address prompted an investigation into suspected child sexual abuse.
Also named in the suit were Internet giant AOL, the state Department of Children and Families and the Pennsylvania State Police. The settlement applies to all the defendants.
“I’m very pleased that this matter has been resolved to the satisfaction of all parties,” said Patrick Tomasiewicz, the Hartford lawyer representing the Larssons.
The Town Council will be asked to approve the settlement when it meets at 8 p.m. today in Town Hall.
Neither Tomasiewicz nor town officials would disclose the terms of the settlement.
In its lawsuit, the family states Trumbull police detectives had no reason to seek the warrant, and as a result Veronica Larsson’s constitutional rights and civil liberties were violated.
The suit further contends that AOL breached its contract with the Larssons by releasing their subscriber information.
The legal action asked for compensatory damages, court costs and attorney fees.
“The family obviously suffered a traumatic incident and we certainly sympathize with them,” First Selectman Raymond G. Baldwin Jr. said.
He said in the future, the Police Department will “be looking more closely at information provided to them by other agencies.”
In 2004, Pennsylvania State Trooper Alan Carmichael sought and received a court order requiring AOL to release subscriber information for the e-mail address ronni575@aol.com while investigating a complaint about an individual claiming online to be having sex with two young children.
The information provided by AOL erroneously indicated the subscriber was Veronica Larsson’s husband, Eric, and provided the Grove Street address.
Carmichael then notified the Trumbull police, who secured a search-and-seizure warrant that was executed on Jan. 10, 2005.
Accompanying the officers were two employees of DCF, who removed Erin Larsson, then 13, from her family’s custody.
After police left, Veronica Larsson read the search warrant and saw the AOL e-mail address listed was not hers and contacted police.
After police confirmed that AOL had supplied incorrect information, they contacted DCF and Erin Larsson was returned home the same afternoon.
Computers taken from the Larsson home were returned three days later and no charges were filed.
www.connpost.com/localnews/ci_5160192
By GENEVIEVE REILLY
TRUMBULL, CONNECTICUT — A settlement has been reached between the town and a local family who claimed in a lawsuit the Police Department violated their rights by erroneously executing a search warrant at their home while searching for evidence of a sex crime.
Grove Street resident Veronica Larsson and her daughter, Erin, filed the federal lawsuit last September after an incorrect e-mail address prompted an investigation into suspected child sexual abuse.
Also named in the suit were Internet giant AOL, the state Department of Children and Families and the Pennsylvania State Police. The settlement applies to all the defendants.
“I’m very pleased that this matter has been resolved to the satisfaction of all parties,” said Patrick Tomasiewicz, the Hartford lawyer representing the Larssons.
The Town Council will be asked to approve the settlement when it meets at 8 p.m. today in Town Hall.
Neither Tomasiewicz nor town officials would disclose the terms of the settlement.
In its lawsuit, the family states Trumbull police detectives had no reason to seek the warrant, and as a result Veronica Larsson’s constitutional rights and civil liberties were violated.
The suit further contends that AOL breached its contract with the Larssons by releasing their subscriber information.
The legal action asked for compensatory damages, court costs and attorney fees.
“The family obviously suffered a traumatic incident and we certainly sympathize with them,” First Selectman Raymond G. Baldwin Jr. said.
He said in the future, the Police Department will “be looking more closely at information provided to them by other agencies.”
In 2004, Pennsylvania State Trooper Alan Carmichael sought and received a court order requiring AOL to release subscriber information for the e-mail address ronni575@aol.com while investigating a complaint about an individual claiming online to be having sex with two young children.
The information provided by AOL erroneously indicated the subscriber was Veronica Larsson’s husband, Eric, and provided the Grove Street address.
Carmichael then notified the Trumbull police, who secured a search-and-seizure warrant that was executed on Jan. 10, 2005.
Accompanying the officers were two employees of DCF, who removed Erin Larsson, then 13, from her family’s custody.
After police left, Veronica Larsson read the search warrant and saw the AOL e-mail address listed was not hers and contacted police.
After police confirmed that AOL had supplied incorrect information, they contacted DCF and Erin Larsson was returned home the same afternoon.
Computers taken from the Larsson home were returned three days later and no charges were filed.
www.connpost.com/localnews/ci_5160192