County, former probation officer sued

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

AlawsuitwasfiledMonday against Allegheny County and a former probation officer for civil rights violations after the plaintiff said the officer sexuallyassaulted her.

The complaint, filed under the name Jane Doe to protect the woman’s identity, includes due process claims and was filed in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas.

Matthew Mullen, 36, of Swisshelm Park pleaded guilty in April to counts of official oppression and intimidation. He admitted to having inappropriate relationships with women he was supervisingon probation.

He will be sentenced by Common Pleas Judge Alexander Bicket on July 10. Both counts Mr. Mullen pleaded guiltyto are misdemeanors.

According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff was charged with driving under the influence in 2013 and entered the county’s Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program in 2014, which would have allowed her record to be cleared upon successful completion.

She said in the lawsuit that Mr. Mullen arrived unannounced at her home one evening during her probation and contacted her on her phone to go outside and get in his car. When she did, the lawsuit said, she claims he said, “‘If you don’t do what I tell you to do, I’m going to get you into some trouble,’ or words to that effect.”

She claims he forced her to perform oral sex on him then and four or five times over thenext two years.

“On each and every one of these occasions, plaintiff performed such acts only out of fear of the threats Mullen made to her,” the lawsuit said.