A jury has ruled the city of Sacramento will have to pay $5 million to a Los Angeles man wrongly charged in 2011 in an internet child-sex abuse case and held for six months before the charges were dismissed.
The Sacramento Bee reported Monday the jury verdict in federal court in Los Angeles followed a five-day trial in which attorney Jeff Dominic Price accused the police of fabricating evidence, malicious prosecution and violating his client's civil rights.
The plaintiff, identified in court papers only as "J.N.," was arrested after Sacramento police began an investigation into a 2011 complaint from the mother of a 12-year-old Sacramento girl who was being contacted by men on Facebook and being asked to disrobe in front of a webcam while one performed sex acts on himself.
Sacramento City Attorney James Sanchez said city officials disagreed with the verdict and might contest it in court.
