The family of Shandle Riley, a Tennessee woman who was forcibly “baptized” by law enforcement officials, is going to receive $100,000 from Hamilton County after reaching a settlement over a lawsuit the victim filed in October 2019.
The incident occurred when Riley was stopped while driving by two former deputies on suspicion of methamphetamine possession. One of the officials, Daniel Wilkey, scared the woman with repercussions after finding traces of marijuana on the vehicle but offered her an unexpected way out: she would only have to let the cop drag her to a nearby lake for a “baptism,” and she could get off scot-free.
Highlights
- Family of Shandle Riley to receive $100,000 settlement after lawsuit over forced 'baptism'.
- Ex-cop Daniel Wilkey offered Riley to take part in the ritual to avoid arrest after finding traces of marijuana on her car.
- Riley's lawsuit sought $11 million in punitive damages, claiming Wilkey groped and violated her rights.
Riley argued in her lawsuit that she was deprived of her rights and that the cop also took advantage of his position of power to intimidate her and grope her breasts, buttocks, and crotch, so she asked for $11 million in punitive damages.
The family of a woman forcibly baptized by a Tennessee sheriff reaches a $100,000 settlement in court two years after she passed away
Image credits: Hamilton County Sheriff's Office
The woman, who died in 2022 from a drug overdose, also explained that Daniel Wilkey seemed to have entered into a religious trance while performing a pat-down search, in which he “talked to God,” who seemingly ordered him to go through with the religious ritual.
Daniel Wilkey promised that he would let her off with a criminal citation instead of taking her to jail if she accepted, which led to Riley agreeing to be taken to the nearby Lake Chickamauga, where he took his clothes off down to his underwear while she remained fully clothed.
Image credits: Hamilton County Sheriff's Office
Jacob Goforth filmed the event and acted as a witness for the makeshift “ritual,” which saw Wilkey forcibly submerge the woman beneath cold waters during what the lawsuit recounts to have been a 10º Celsius night, after which she was left shivering and feeling “horribly violated.”
Both Wilkey and Goforth are in the middle of trials for their misconduct as law enforcement officials, with the latter being accused of being an accomplice and not reporting his partner’s activities to his superiors.
Leading to his firing in 2019, the ex-cop accumulated more than 40 criminal charges during his career, including stalking and sexual abuse
Image credits: Hamilton County Sheriff's Office
This is far from being the first time the official is involved in cases of abuse against citizens. In July 2019, he got hit with another lawsuit, this time for $17 million, after he hit and humiliated a man under suspicion of drug possession, culminating in him performing a public “anal cavity search,” with the entire event captured on camera.
The man, identified as James Mitchell, claims to have felt a “hard object” around the cop’s groin while being handcuffed and states to have felt “mental anguish, fear of death or grievous bodily harm, and humiliation.”
Image credits: Hamilton County Sheriff's Office
"Wilkey then began to grab James' genitals. When James told Wilkey that James had an untreated and large hernia and that Wilkey's actions were causing James pain,” the legal document argues. “Brewer and Wilkey jerked James' arms high above his back, and slammed James face-down onto the hot engine hood, causing injury to James.”
Daniel Wilkey was fired on December 27, 2019, and he is considered ineligible for rehire. Despite the deplorable nature of the cop’s behavior, judges have since dismissed a 44-count indictment against him.
Image credits: Hamilton County Sheriff's Office
Wilkey defended himself in court by stating that the baptized woman requested the ritual to be performed on her voluntarily, claiming that she desired to “turn away from her life of drug abuse and crime,” to which he obliged.
Legal procedures against the ex-cop began in March 2024 and are still underway, with the latest $100,000 settlement being one step forward for the accused but a far cry from the $11 million sought by the late Shandle Riley.
“The worst perpetrators always seem to hide under the guise of religion,” says one commenter as others lament over the state of the United States police department
Image credits: Hamilton County Sheriff's Office
“This guy has no business being a police officer. He needs to be fired and charged for doing what he did to both the woman and man,” said one reader.
“This is America buddy. Police here do what they want and a certain brainwashed segment of the population says ‘I always support the police no matter what,’” replied one commenter.
Image credits: Hamilton County Sheriff's Office
“There’s always an excuse and they are almost always backed by their own. They never face real punishment or consequences,” affirmed another, disappointed at the court’s rulings.
“I would think a body cavity search would need to be done at the police station by medical personnel in a clinical setting. I’m horrified,” said one viewer, making a reference to the ex-cop’s first abuse case.