By Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – A Virginia woman claims that two ex-members of her Virginia police force sexually assaulted her in a plea deal. The agreement was made to safeguard the head of a human trafficking ring. According to a Thursday night lawsuit.

Jane Doe, a woman who was a victim of trafficking, claims that Fairfax County police, Virginia, and its ex-chief Edwin Roessler knew some Fairfax County officers could be involved in the ring. However, they allowed them to retire full pensions instead of prosecuting them.

Roessler didn’t respond to any comment requests sent via his LinkedIn profile and email.

Washington D.C.’s Fairfax County Police Department spokesperson said they were handling other issues at the moment and would not comment on the suit.

Plaintiff and two other former officers were accused in this lawsuit of having sex with trafficking victims.

Roesler and the County are also accused.

Reuters could not reach the two accused officers of sexual assault, and LinkedIn messages from those who were accused of interfering in investigations didn’t respond.

According to the lawsuit, the FBI knew of potential crimes committed by officers when agents found their numbers on the plaintiff’s cell phone and reported the matter the Fairfax County Police.

A spokeswoman for the FBI did not immediately respond to our request.

Fairfax police officers were accused of obstruction of investigations into sex trafficking. This occurred while the county received a grant of $500,000 from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Plaintiffs conspired to block the investigation into sex trafficking in Fairfax County.

According to the suit, plaintiff was a victim Hazel Marie Sanchez Cerdas who, it seems, ran a Fairfax County prostitution ring. The lawsuit stated that Sanchez’s trafficking ring was protected by the police officers and Jane Doe made trafficked women available to her for gratuitous sexual services.

According to federal prosecutors, Sanchez lured Costa Rican women and forced them into prostitution.

Sanchez pled guilty in 2019 for one count interstate travel or foreign aid racketeering enterprise and was sentenced to two-and-half years in prison.

Also, the suit claimed that former detective William Woolf repeatedly blocked trafficking investigations from department officials. According to the suit, officers repeatedly mocked Woolf and called him a “social worker”. They also referred to victims as prostitutes who were willingly engaging in sex work.

One of Woolf’s bosses suddenly became interested in the cases and ordered him to provide a phone number for one victim. According to the lawsuit. According to the lawsuit, Woolf’s investigations were also made more difficult by his boss.

Woolf was attempting to speak out about his boss’s behavior, but officials told Woolf to shut his mouth. Woolf resigned from the department in 2017. He refused to comment.