Survivor’s lawsuit against Florida sheriff moves forward

A civil rights lawsuit against the Polk County Sheriff’s Office in Florida overcame a tricky and nuanced legal hurdle this week in federal court.

As Mother Jones originally reported, Taylor Cadle was 12 years old in 2016 when she told a sheriff’s deputy that she had been sexually abused by her adoptive father, Henry Cadle. Instead of arresting the abuser, Deputy Melissa Turnage charged Taylor with filing a false police report. According to Taylor, her adoptive mother pushed her to plead guilty. As part of her probation, she was required to write apology letters to a sheriff’s deputy and her abuser. 

After returning to her adoptive father’s care, Taylor was raped again. But this time, she recorded the assault with her phone and collected key physical evidence. 

After reporting the abuse for a second time, Taylor’s adoptive father was arrested and sentenced to 17 years in prison for sexual battery of a child.

Taylor had never shared her story publicly until Mother Jones reporters connected with her in late 2023. After the story was published and was picked up by other outlets, including Rolling Stone and People, Taylor said no one from the Sheriff’s Office ever reached out to apologize. The absence of a reaction didn’t seem to align with a sheriff who has said that he would “go to the ends of the Earth” to arrest child sex abusers and that if his office makes a mistake, he would “dress up, ’fess up, and fix it up.”

Now 22, Taylor filed the suit last fall alleging that the sheriff and his deputies violated her civil rights by conducting a biased investigation, falsely arresting her, and leaving her abuser free to rape her again. The suit was filed against Sheriff Grady Judd in his individual and official capacity, two detectives involved in the investigation, and her adoptive father. 

Judd’s office directly responded to Taylor’s claims, calling her lawsuit “frivolous.”

A spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Office wrote the following to the Lakeland Ledger last year: “Unfortunately, in today’s highly litigious society, lawyers will file frivolous lawsuits for just about anything, including second guessing nine year old criminal investigations, and then run to the news media attempting to get publicity for their lawsuit. In this case, our deputies did an extensive investigation and made deliberate and rational decisions based upon the information and evidence we had at the time.”

The sheriff’s attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the case, arguing that Taylor had waited too long to sue. They argued that Florida’s statute limits Taylor’s civil rights claims to seven years, and she filed her suit nine years after she was falsely arrested.

However, Taylor’s lawyers presented a legal argument that—to their knowledge—hasn’t been used in this district court. The seven-year time limit functions as a “statute of repose,” preventing federal courts from applying it. Therefore, the court should consider the clock paused during the years she was a minor living with a guardian whose interests were working against hers. The team argued that under that interpretation, her deadline shifted to four years after she turned 18. Taylor filed within that window, the day before her 22nd birthday. 

District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, a Trump appointee, agreed. She ruled that most of Taylor’s claims could go forward, including allegations that sheriff’s detectives had maliciously prosecuted her and violated her right to bodily safety.

“I felt pride in Taylor and a sense of relief,” said attorney Brenda Harkavy. “There’s a long road ahead, but the court has given her the opportunity to prove her case, and that itself feels like a step toward justice.”

Harkavy said this provides an extended timeline for other survivors to file suits if they were abused as children and continued to live under the care of someone whose interests were averse to theirs. 

Had the judge ruled against her argument, Harkavy said there would be no viable way to move forward with the claims against the Sheriff’s Office and the detectives. 

The suit will continue against Turnage, her supervisor William Rushing, and Judd in his official capacity. However, Mizelle dismissed claims against the sheriff personally, citing qualified immunity, a legal doctrine that shields public officials from liability. 

“Taylor is a hero,” Harkavy said. “The conduct that occurred here is horrific. It’s incredibly important that [the Sheriff’s Office] recognize what they imposed upon on Taylor, that they accept responsibility for what happened. None of this was Taylor’s doing.”

Scott Wilder, director of communications for the Sheriff’s Office, told Mother Jones that the department would “continue to vigorously defend against the false and baseless allegations.” When asked to elaborate on which allegations were false or baseless, Wilder did not respond.