CINCINNATI — A federal lawsuit claims a Cincinnati police officer and former Hamilton County Department of Jobs and Family Services (JFS) worker misused the state's child welfare database.
The lawsuit — filed by Officer Jesse Hooven's ex-wife and her current fiancé, then-boyfriend — says Hooven had then-JFS employee Madison Paul use the child welfare database to gather information on his ex-wife's boyfriend when he began spending time around their kids.
In the lawsuit, Hooven's ex-wife claims the officer regularly appears in uniform at their children's schools or events and discusses their child custody matters "openly to anyone" and tells others her boyfriend should not be trusted.
The lawsuit also claims Hooven has pressured teachers, neighbors and others to keep tabs on his ex-wife and her boyfriend including "(reporting) back to him about their comings and going, and the identities of visitors to their residence."
In April 2023, the lawsuit says Hooven asked Paul to get information on the boyfriend "to retaliate against and punish" the couple for their relationship — including using any info against his ex-wife in their custody dispute.
The lawsuit claims Paul used the Ohio Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System to try to find any kind of "record." Paul, the lawsuit states, was in a consensual relationship with Hooven at the time of the search.
Texts provided in the lawsuit show Hooven relaying information to his ex-wife, telling her a "JFS worker told me."
The lawsuit states JFS suspended Paul without pay for eight days due to "gross misconduct, neglect of duty, nonfeasance, and failure of good behavior" after the ex-wife's boyfriend filed a formal complaint against her.
An internal CPD investigation exonerated Hooven of wrongdoing though the Citizens Complaint Authority sustained a finding of misconduct in September 2023 as there was no legitimate law enforcement for child welfare reason to ask for the search.
The city said on Tuesday it does not comment on pending litigation.
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