‘State Of Shock And Fear’ After Sexual Assault

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A woman who says a Louisiana police chief sexually assaulted her inside his small town's police station in 2013 has testified that the encounter left her in a "state of shock and fear."

A federal judge heard the 44-year-old woman's testimony Monday during the first day of a trial for her civil lawsuit against former Sorrento Police Chief Earl Theriot and the town, which abolished its troubled police department last year.

Theriot was sentenced to two years of probation after he pleaded guilty in 2014 to lying to the FBI about his encounter with the woman.

The woman claims Theriot forced her to perform sexual acts in his office after he found her drunk in public.

Theriot's lawyers claim the woman initiated the "unconsummated" sexual encounter to save herself from jail.

U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick will decide without a jury if Theriot or the town violated the woman's constitutional rights.