“[The settlement] was obviously a lot lower than I think is the correct number because there’s not a number for rape.”

Louisville, KY — Once again, in a case that illustrates the clear injustice in our system, Louisville Metro taxpayers are forced to cough up $275,000 to compensate for the heinous actions of one of their former police officers, Pablo Cano. This serial rapist admitted to nonconsensual sex with five women between 2015 and 2017, a series of vile acts committed while he was supposed to be protecting and serving the community.

Back in June 2017, the first lawsuit claiming sexual assault was lodged against Cano, after he allegedly followed a woman home and raped her. Upon the revelation, the Louisville Metro Police Department placed him on administrative leave during their investigation. However, this predator had the audacity to simply resign from his post in September 2017. Astonishingly, news coverage of Cano’s monstrous deeds led even more women to step forward, accusing him of sexual abuse – approximately ten, including his former girlfriends.

Among the victims, Jane Doe IV courageously revealed that Cano forced himself on her during a traffic stop, with the incident partially caught on his body camera. Sadly, these brave women felt they had to settle, hoping to avoid reliving their trauma through a court ordeal. The irony is that it is the city and, by extension, the taxpayers, who are financially accountable for Cano’s crimes.

Attorney Shannon Fauver, who represented the victims, emphasized that the settlement fails to compensate for the torment inflicted by Cano and the city’s abysmal response. The settlement divided up amounts to $50,000 each for four victims, while Jane Doe IV received $75,000.

“[The settlement] was obviously a lot lower than I think is the correct number because there’s not a number for rape,” Fauver said. “But at any point, the judges could have decided that the city was not financially responsible, and then [the women] would have gotten nothing.”

As TFTP reported at the time, the first complaint was made public in 2017 when it was revealed that a woman filed a report claiming she had been raped by Cano, twice.

The woman claimed she first met Cano at a city park, and then he showed up at her house weeks later and raped her. After the rape, he came back the next day and did it again. He was allegedly in uniform the first time, and then in plain clothes the next day when he came to rape her again, but had a gun at the time of the crime.

She filed a lawsuit against Cano and the Police Department. Fauver also represented a second woman, who came forward days after the first victim accusing the highly decorated officer of raping and sexually molesting her in December 2016. The LMPD responded by placing Cano on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

A third woman came forward days after that and said she, too, was raped by Cano.

Just before the officer was charged, a fourth woman came forward. Louisville Councilman David James said he was shocked by the scandal. “I was actually in shock,” James admitted. “It’s another black eye for the police officers.”

Cano would resign four months later in September 2017.

Adding to the disgusting nature of Cano’s crimes is the fact that the former cop also pleaded guilty to possessing child porn.

Cano, the admitted serial rapist, pleaded guilty in 2019 to five counts of sexual misconduct and a charge of possession of child pornography. Remarkably, he was released just three years into his five-year prison sentence — a mere slap on the wrist for his atrocious crimes. Today, he is basking in the Florida sun, forever banned from being a police officer due to the child pornography conviction, but surely this punishment is insufficient for his catalog of depravity.

Once more, we’re left with the sobering realization that it is the taxpayers who are left to foot the bill for the unforgivable actions of those who swore an oath to serve and protect. It’s a stark reminder of what happens when government claims a monopoly on the ostensible security of its citizens and the rampant unaccountable debauchery that ensues.

Article posted with permission from Matt Agorist