| Sexual Harassment in NYPD |
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City cop claims lieutenant texted her racy photos but year after complaint probe drags onBY SIMONE WEISCHELBAUM DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Thursday, June 2nd 2011, 4:00 AM A city cop claims a lieutenant texted her a photo of his penis and then put her on a foot post after she turned down his sexual advances, sources told the Daily News. Officer Lisette Pedrosa, 39, filed complaints with the Internal Affairs Bureau and the Police Department's Office of Equal Employment Opportunity about a year ago. Pedrosa says the NYPD has done nothing to squash the alleged sexual harassment, so she plans to file a lawsuit this month. "I feel stuck," Pedrosa told The News. "I can't transfer out. I feel like I am being cheated." Pedrosa, assigned to the 25th Precinct in East Harlem, said her problems with Lt. Salvatore Marchese began in February 2010 when he asked her to leave street patrol and work with him in the graffiti unit. "He said he wanted me in plain clothes so we could go in his private vehicle to look for graffiti," Pedrosa said of the 45-year-old Marchese. "He said he wanted people to get used to us being together." The NYPD confirmed the internal complaints, adding that Pedrosa's claims are still under investigation. Police officials wouldn't say why the probe has taken more than a year. Reached by phone, Marchese wouldn't talk about the alleged harassment. "I don't want to comment," he said. "That's all I have to say." His lawyer James Moschella denied the accusations. "He feels he will be vindicated," Moschella said. "The allegations are not true period." Police sources said the lieutenant's fixation on Pedrosa was well-known throughout the precinct. "He would change he rdays off to match his," said a high-ranking police source. "He would use his overtime to come in early to be with her," another Harlem police source said. Pedrosa said she had enough last May when Marchese slapped her butt while she looked for graffiti remover in the precinct basement. Then she filed the complaints against him. Marchese finally kicked her out of the graffiti unit during a verbal clash after roll call, sources said. Pedrosa, a mother of three, says she has to work the streets alone and on foot. Meanwhile, Marchese was given a better gig as the new lieutenant of special operations in charge of 60 cops, sources said. "How could he be there and how could he have more power?" one of the sources said. "It doesn't make sense."
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