Woman says officer used excessive force

PORTLAND – A woman who was hired as an exotic dancer has filed a lawsuit in federal court claiming a South Portland police officer used excessive force after she reported to a hotel to do her act and later was detained.

The Maine Civil Liberties Union Foundation is representing Rosanna Morelli in the case, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Portland on Wednesday.

The suit claims that 53-year-old Morelli was assaulted by Sgt. Steven Webster at a Best Western hotel on March 3, 2006. She had been contacted in her capacity as an exotic dancer by undercover officers as part of a prostitution sting operation.

When she was offered money to take off her clothes, Morelli left and told the police they had no right to hold her.

But the MCLU says Morelli allegedly was shoved against a corridor wall and grabbed around her arms and wrists. Morelli was subjected to “hostile and abusive questioning” in a hotel room before she was released by police, according to the MCLU.

In response to her original complaint, South Portland Police Chief Edward Googins said in a letter dated June 8, 2006, that the department had conducted an investigation and Webster was exonerated.

Police do not deny that Morelli was grabbed, but say it was in response to her uncooperative behavior and unwillingness to be detained.