A woman is suing several parties, including the city of Jacksonville, over an alleged lack of training and supervision to prevent sexual harassment and abuse by Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office employees.
A federal lawsuit filed on Sept. 2, 2026, alleges violations of the woman’s constitutional rights and failures by the defendants: The city of Jacksonville, Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters and former officer Reginald McKinney.
The complaint centers on a late-night traffic stop on the woman that was conducted by McKinney in September 2024. According to a Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office report, the woman filed a complaint afterward, launching an investigation that led to his eventual arrest that same month.
According to the arrest report, McKinney turned off his body-worn camera for much of the interaction with the plaintiff. She told police that he told her that he was choosing not to take her to jail and that he turned the camera off, making her fearful of what he would do. He allegedly made multiple comments about his attraction toward her and asked for her phone number. He then directed her to follow him in her car away from the traffic stop to another location, where he hugged her and grabbed her “buttocks and groin area.”
The interaction didn’t end there. The lawsuit states that after the encounter, the 23-year-old woman returned home, “terrified, devastated, and emotionally distressed,” then received multiple text messages from McKinney.
McKinney was charged with false imprisonment and misdemeanor battery. After reaching a deal, the state dropped the false imprisonment charge and McKinney pleaded no contest to misdemeanor battery. He was ordered to serve six months of probation, complete 25 hours of community service and forfeit his law enforcement certificate.
The lawsuit alleges the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is “rampant with sexual harassment and abuse, both within its ranks and towards civilians,” and that the plaintiff “was a victim of the JSO’s policy and practice of failing to provide training, or failing to properly train its employees, concerning the prohibition of sexual harassment and abuse, and the prohibition against acting for one’s personal gratification as a member of law enforcement.”
To back up this claim, the lawsuit outlines instances of complaints against and alleged misconduct by JSO employees prior to the traffic stop.
“Defendants JACKSONVILLE and WATERS, knowing or having reason to know of the systemic issues of sexual harassment and sexual misconduct being rampant within the JSO, failed to implement polices or procedures to prevent this type of misconduct in the future,” the lawsuit reads.
When it comes to McKinney as a defendant, he is accused of committing false imprisonment and battery while also violating the woman’s 4th Amendment right against unreasonable seizure and her 14th Amendment right to due process and bodily integrity.
The woman is requesting a jury trial on all counts as well as compensation, punitive damages and coverage of her attorneys’ fees and costs.
First Coast News has reached out to JSO and the mayor’s office for a statement on the lawsuit. We are waiting to hear back.