A federal appeals court ruled Friday that the Ohio county home to a scandal-ridden morgue can be sued.
Kenneth Douglas, 60, worked at the Hamilton County morgue from 1976 until 1992. During a deposition, Douglas admitted that he had sex with as many as 100 corpses. He added that sometimes, he was either drunk or on drugs while violating the corpses. "I would just get on top of them and pull my pants down," Douglas said.
Three of the victims' families brought a lawsuit against Hamilton County in 2012, and Douglas was convicted of "gross abuse of a corpse" in three cases. In 2008, Douglas' DNA was found on the body of Karen Range, a woman who died at 19 with whom Douglas reportedly had sex.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The county, for its part, argues that it isn't responsible for the actions of its employees. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, however, ruled Friday that a jury could find the county guilty of negligence. The prosecutor's office is now reviewing the court's ruling.
"If I hadn't had anything to drink when I went to work, it wouldn't happen," Douglas said during a 2012 trial. "I would do crack and go in and drink and go in."
-
Believe it when AI see it: have we reached a deepfake turning point in politics?Today’s Big Question AI ‘slopaganda’ is becoming a ‘feature’ of modern elections
-
Daylight Saving Time: a Spanish controversyUnder the Radar Spain’s prime minister has called on the EU to remove biannual clock changes in Europe
-
Quiz of The Week: 25 – 31 OctoberQuiz Have you been paying attention to The Week’s news?
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstancesSpeed Read
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2Speed Read
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governorSpeed Read
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditionsSpeed Read
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billionSpeed Read
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on recordSpeed Read
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homesSpeed Read
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creatureSpeed Read
