A Kentucky cop is now facing six lawsuits alleging that he raped women, including while he was on duty.
Former Louisville police offer Pablo Cano, who resigned after several of the lawsuits were filed, is accused of having raped women in his patrol car and in uniform.
“I couldn’t believe it was happening,” one of the alleged victims told a Kentucky TV station. “A police officer in uniform was doing that to me.”
Cano started with the Louisville department in 2015. That year, he faced a complaint over shooting a homeowner’s pit bull after the homeowner called to report a break-in. Cano was reportedly rejected by four Florida police departments. Miami reportedly passed him over because he said he’d used psychedelic mushrooms.
The first allegations against Cano were made in July 2017. In September, he resigned. The city opened an investigation into the allegations, which is “ongoing.” Cano has not yet been charged with a crime.
Attorney Shannon Fauver, who is representing the victims, has told harrowing stories of the alleged rapes, some of which began with a traffic stop. In one case, a woman with a bench warrant was pulled over and allegedly solicited for sex.
“He wanted to know if she wanted to be arrested or perform services,” Fauver explained. “So he followed her, he took her phone number first and followed her. They actually went to the store and got condoms.”
Because the officer was on the clock, in uniform and in his marked police vehicle, the alleged victims were afraid to come forward.
“They all waited a while to come in because he’s an officer,” Fauver said. “They were all afraid to report it because they assume officers cover for themselves or each other. I don’t think that’s true, but that is what the general public sees on TV and stuff.”