A new federal complaint accuses multiple Baton Rouge police officers of taking a family to a black site called the BRAVE Cave, where one cop sexually battered an 11-year-old boy and unlawfully strip-searched his mother.
This lawsuit is one of several connected to the BRAVE Cave, a narcotics processing facility that served as a “torture” warehouse for local cops to physically and sexually abuse individuals in their custody. It was reportedly shut down last August after numerous complaints emerged. The Baton Rouge Street Crimes Unit, which used the site, was also disbanded.
This most recent lawsuit provides details about an incident on June 6, 2023, when officers conducted a SWAT sting on a family home in East Baton Rouge.
That morning, Lakeisha Varnado and her three sons woke up to several officers who burst into their home, the complaint states. Baton Rouge police had secured a search warrant after receiving reports about someone firing guns into the air near the home. Police found weapons inside the home, including one they said was stolen.
Police took Varnado and her 17-year-old, 15-year-old, and 11-year-old sons into custody. The complaint states that before they were detained, one officer hit the oldest son multiple times and another struck his 15-year-old brother in the mouth with a Taser.
Officers initially placed the 11-year-old child in a SWAT truck dressed only in his underwear. After “an hour or two,” one cop escorted him back to the house to get more clothes, the suit said.
According to the complaint, the entire family was detained and taken to the BRAVE Cave. From there, they were all separated.
Varnado was forced to strip naked and undergo a body cavity search. Her 15-year-old son was dragged to a holding cell where he was “choked and punched so hard” that he was “rendered unconscious.”
At one point, the 11-year-old child asked to use the bathroom and an officer took him somewhere “out of sight,” made him take off his clothes, and then touched his genitals, according to the suit. The boy underwent a psychological evaluation after the incident, in which he told forensic interviewers what happened to him.
Attorneys for the family filed the complaint on Feb. 20 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana. It names three officers as defendants — Joseph Carboni, Tafari Beard, and Lorenzo Coleman.
Coleman is accused in the suit of beating Varnado’s 15-year-old son.
Carboni was accused of strip-searching Varnado and sexually assaulting her youngest son. He was also named in two other lawsuits connected to the Brave Cave.
There is no body camera footage showing the officers’ actions at the site. WAFB 9 News obtained bodycam video showing the SWAT sting at Varnado’s home.
Attorney Ryan Thompson, who is representing the family, told McClatchy Media that Carboni once served as a school resource officer at the 15-year-old’s school. He said that Varnado’s lawsuit is the fourth complaint he has filed on behalf of BRAVE Cave victims.
“Given that one of these victims is the youngest Brave Cave victim that I’ve seen thus far and given that this involves another woman and her family, it’s very concerning,” Thompson said in an interview with WAFB.
Thompson also stated that Varnado and one of her teen sons underwent a medical evaluation at a hospital after the ordeal. Medical records note Varnado was treated for stress, and her son was treated for scrapes on his right shoulder. Neither the injuries nor the family’s complaints about the officers’ use of force made it into police reports, WAFB reported.
The other victims who filed complaints are Ternell Brown and Jeremy Lee, who were both strip-searched at the site. Baton Rouge officer Carboni is named in both of their suits.
Thomas Frampton, the attorney for Ternell Brown, asked a federal judge to order Baton Rouge police to change their policies on strip searches after filing Brown’s suit.
Varnado’s suit seeks a trial by jury and $5 million in damages.
