Clark County Pays $328,000 to Settle Federal 'Night of Terror' Jail Assault Suits
After trial: Total county payout.
Won by Wagner Reese, LLP.
Roughly two dozen women sued after a Clark County jail officer sold cell keys to male detainees, and the county's insurer paid $328,000 to settle the federal suits that Wagner Reese helped bring.
What happened
On the night of October 23 into the morning of October 24, 2021, male detainees at the Clark County Jail in Jeffersonville, Indiana, got into the women's housing area. They were able to do it because a jail officer, David Lowe, had taken $1,000 to hand over keys, according to the lawsuits and the criminal charges that followed. For several hours, the men moved through the women's pods.
Court filings described women who were raped, assaulted, threatened, and harassed during those hours. One woman said she contracted a sexually transmitted infection. The suits also alleged that jail staff punished the women afterward instead of helping them, keeping the lights on for about 72 hours and placing them on lockdown. Twenty-eight women eventually brought federal civil rights claims in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, in a case that news outlets across the country covered as the jail's "night of terror."
The women were divided across two suits. Wagner Reese, LLP, of Indianapolis, represented eight of them, with Stephen Wagner and Laura Swafford listed as counsel. A separate group of twenty women had other lawyers, including Perry McCall. The complaints named Lowe and Sheriff Jamey Noel and argued that the jail failed to train its staff, supervise its officers, and protect the people locked inside it.
The cases never reached a jury. Plaintiffs' attorneys said they had no doubt about what the women reported. "We were confident that these ladies were telling the truth and they were genuine in what happened to them," Perry McCall, an attorney for some of the women, told WDRB.
In April 2024, the parties filed notice of a settlement. Clark County agreed to pay $328,000 to resolve the suits, with the county's insurance carrier covering the cost and the county admitting no wrongdoing. The payout was divided among 25 women who settled. Most received about $10,000, and some received up to $25,000.
The criminal side moved on its own track. Lowe, the officer accused of selling the keys, faced felony charges that included aiding escape and official misconduct. Sheriff Jamey Noel, who ran the jail at the time of the assaults, pleaded guilty to corruption charges in August 2024 in a separate investigation into his handling of public money.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
- 1.Prison Legal News - county pays $328,000 in 'night of terror' case·Archived copy
- 2.WDRB - Clark County agrees to $328,000 settlement(original offline)
- 3.The Indiana Lawyer: 'Night of terror': 28 women allege assaults by male inmates after Clark Co. jail officer sold access keys·Archived copy
- 4.WIBC 93.1 FM - lawsuit filed against Clark County sheriff·Archived copy
- 5.Fox News - inmates bought keys from jailer in 'night of terror' lawsuits·Archived copy
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