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A lieutenant in the NYPD’s property department has been charged with sexually assaulting and threatening a civilian worker on the force after she had ended their affair.
Lieutenant Wilder Lucas, 41, was arraigned Tuesday in Brooklyn Supreme Court on charges of criminal sex act, sexual misconduct and aggravated harassment. If found guilty, he could face upwards of 25 years in prison.
The charges come nearly four months after Amy Ventura, a 40-year-old single mother and civilian employee of the property division, filed a lawsuit against Wilder at Manhattan Supreme Court.
Wilder was released without bail following his arraignment and will face his next court date in October.
‘No woman should be subjected to sexual violence in the workplace,’ Ventura’s lawyer, John Scola, told the New York Daily News.
Lieutenant Wilder Lucas, 41, was arraigned Tuesday in Brooklyn Supreme Court on charges of criminal sex act, sexual misconduct and aggravated harassment. If found guilty, he could face upwards of 25 years in prison
The charges come nearly four months after Amy Ventura, a 40-year-old single mother and civilian employee of the property division, filed a lawsuit against Wilder at Manhattan Supreme Court
‘When these situations do arise, it is important that victims can come forward and know these complaints will be listened to and taken seriously. These women can now point to the bravery of Ms. Ventura as an example of strength to help summon the courage to report their abuse.’
Lucas has declined requests for comment.
Ventura is still suing Lucas and the city for unspecified damages under claims of sexual harassment and discrimination.
In the court documents, Ventura said that she began dating Lucas in April 2021 after being told he was divorced.
The relationship soured after five months, with Ventura claiming he became aggressive and vicious.
‘My client was treated with contempt as a sexual object, harassed, sexually assaulted, and had her life threatened repeatedly at work by her supervisor who felt he could act with impunity due to his position,’ said Ventura’s lawyer, John Scola, speaking to the paper.
Lucas, contacted by The New York Post, said: ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’
Ventura, in the court documents, reportedly claims that Lucas demanded she perform oral sex on him after a date at a shooting range in May 2021, where he taught her to fire a gun.
Wilder was released without bail following his arraignment and will face his next court date in October
Ammy Ventura, 40, filed court documents in April at Manhattan Supreme Court. She is suing Lucas and the city for unspecified damages under claims of sexual harassment and discrimination
When she refused his request, he became angry, she claims, and yelled: ‘Shut the f*** up!’
Shortly before they broke up in September 2021, Lucas invited Ventura to the Dominican Republic.
But on landing, she alleges he brought three other women with them and ignored her, calling her ‘f****** annoying’.
After the trip, she confronted him, she claims, but he told her: ‘I can’t talk – I’m a married man.’
Ventura then claims that Lucas sexually assaulted her in his office, while at work, in August 2022.
She claims, according to the Post, that Lucas grabbed her by her hair, pulled her behind his desk and forced her to give him oral sex while his office door was wide open.
The court documents state the incident was ‘against her will,’ but Ventura felt ‘paralyzed and completely powerless to stop the violent attack.’
Ventura says, in her suit, that she felt ‘powerless’ to speak out against him, despite him making inappropriate comments and repeatedly saying he wanted a threesome with her.
Lucas is pictured at his promotion ceremony. The NYPD said they have a zero tolerance policy on sexual discrimination, but could not comment on the ongoing legal process
She claimed he ‘openly enjoys’ making her feel uncomfortable.
At the end of 2022, when news of Ventura and Lucas’s relationship began to circulate, he threatened her and demanded she never mention their affair.
He allegedly told Ventura: ‘I’ll f****** kill you,’ and threatened to ‘push [her] in front of a train.’
He also demanded she delete evidence of their relationship from her phone and from the cloud – which she did out of ‘fear for her life,’ the documents claim.
‘As a single mother, [Ventura] lives in constant fear of her financial situation deteriorating as a result of Defendant Lucas’s threats that he could terminate her employment given his position,’ the suit charges.
A spokesman for the NYPD said: ‘Sexual discrimination is prohibited by federal, state, and city laws as well as Department policies, and the NYPD takes seriously all accusations of such behavior.
‘The NYPD thoroughly investigates all complaints it receives, and offers several reporting options for NYPD employees, including anonymously.
‘The Department does not tolerate discrimination in any form and is committed to respectful work environments for our diverse workforce.’
A city Law Department spokesman said the agency ‘will review the lawsuit once served.’
