KINGSVILLE, Texas — A female officer with the Kingsville Police Department details what she describes as sexual harassment and racially-charged statements dating back to 2018 in a five-page complaint filed against Kingsville Police Chief Ricardo Torres.
As KRIS 6 News reported earlier this month, Torres has been placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation into whether he violated city policy.
6 Investigates received a copy of the complaint just after Torres was placed on leave, and last week Kingsville City Manager Mark McLaughlin verified its authenticity.
At the time, McLaughlin refused to comment on the document or the investigation, but Monday said the city had hired an outside law firm to investigate the allegations in order to avoid the appearance of "bias."
He said he would review the report with the city attorney, and then he would "determine if there’s any wrongdoing and if so to what level and what punishment is required."
Adding that the process is between Torres and him and would not be shared publicly.
KRIS 6 is withholding portions of this document, but the complaint is full of allegations of sexual harassment and racially-charged comments. Because of the specific nature of some of those complaints, including them would identify the complaining officer.
Among the claims are that Torres made repeated comments about her body.
"Chief Torres stated that because I was Hispanic, I was going to grow big hips, and my butt was going to stay fat after my pregnancy," the officer's statement said.
After returning to work from maternity leave, the officer said she was instructed to breast pump in a room that had surveillance cameras but that she believed them to be off.
Later, she said Torres took her for a ride in his vehicle and he informed her the cameras had been recording and that he had seen the footage and deleted it.
At this point, she says comments on her body intensified. She said a captain with the police department pulled her aside and said the comments being made about her and her body were not okay. According to the complaint, the captain asked if she needed help.
"I told captain (redacted), after crying, I was fine and I didn't want to speak to anyone because I was scared I was going to get retaliated against," the officer wrote.
However, she said statements by the chief continued to reference her body, including a statement in which he said she would be "loose" after giving birth and "don't you know that's my baby in you, that's the rumor, don't you know."
According to the statement, she began to avoid Torres and he responded by retaliating against her, denying training opportunities and advising her she was not fulfilling her job duties.
"I believe Chief is now retaliating against me because I have no longer allow (sic.) him to sexualize me or degrade me as an officer," she wrote. "I am terrified of retaliation from Chief or even termination."
The complaint also details interactions with other female employees including an instance when a female employee was instructed to put on patrol pants and "show him (Torres) how they look."
In another case, an employee remarked that they needed a cardboard cutout of the complaining officer so that Torres would "stay out of my office."
"I am very aware of the sexual comments made towards (redacted) by Chief," the complaint states. "I have heard him state things to her plenty of times. I do believe now Chief is continuing to sexualize the females of the police department."
6 Investigates reached out to Torres but was unable to reach him for comment.
While on paid administrative leave, Torres has kept his badge and department-issue vehicle, McLaughlin said.
The city manager said he has authorized Torres to work on grants while on leave.
