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In Lawsuit, State Trooper Says She Was Target Of Ex-Boyfriend's Retaliation

BOSTON (CBS) - A state trooper says she was the target of her ex-boyfriend's retaliation and now she's suing the department. The complaint by Trooper Kathryn Downey was filed with the state's Commission Against Discrimination in November.

Downey claims she was punished "unfairly" for what she called a prank. Downey admits she used an inactive stun gun on a trooper she was dating at the time.

After that incident, she says she later found pornography on that trooper's state issued computer. Downey claimed she was looking for training materials and came across a "hard drive that contained various sexually suggestive photographs and graphic videos of naked women."

The head of the state's Office of Public Safety says a thorough investigation is underway.

"The important thing is for us to deal with each problem and it's only when you deal with each problem and bring it out in the open and make sure that nothing is hidden from the public that you are going to get public confidence back if public confidence has been lost," said Daniel Bennett, secretary of the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security.

Downey says after she reported the trooper, she was transferred and told she would receive a letter of reprimand. She also says the male troopers who knew or were involved in the prank were not disciplined.

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