Kosloski Law Files Class Action Lawsuit in Colorado Jail Strip Search Scandal

DURANGO, CO - Attorneys for the victims of Edward Aber, the former La Plata County Jail Commander who was charged last month after he was found to be accessing thousands of strip search videos for his own sexual gratification over a five year period, have filed a federal class action lawsuit against Aber as well as La Plata County, the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff Sean Smith and others in what the attorneys call “one of the most egregious and systemic violations of constitutional rights ever perpetrated by a law enforcement official against vulnerable individuals in their custody.”

Last month, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) charged Aber with 117 counts of Invasion of Privacy for Sexual Gratification and one count of First Degree Official Misconduct. The victims, who represent all those exploited by Aber, are represented by prominent civil rights attorneys Kevin Mehr and Tyler Jolly of Mehr Jolly PLLC, and Jason Kosloski of Kosloski Law, PLLC.

According to the lawsuit, Aber accessed and viewed strip search videos of at least 117 different female inmates thousands of times, often viewing the same videos repeatedly, from his home, hotel room and other locations over more than five years from February 2019 through July 2024. These videos captured the most intimate and private aspects of the human body including full frontal nudity and close-up views of female inmates’ breasts, buttocks, and genitals during mandatory strip searches conducted during the booking process and at other times.

Unfortunately, those responsible for overseeing Aber, including La Plata County and Sheriff Sean Smith, failed to do so despite Aber having a history of sexual impropriety or harassment. This failure, according to the lawsuit, enabled Aber allowing him to victimize the female inmates logging into the evidence management system approximately 3,166 times, the vast majority of twitch were focused on accessing strip search videos of female inmates.

“To say this is absolutely disgusting isn’t nearly strong enough,” said Kosloski. “The fact that Aber not only victimized these women for years violating their most fundamental rights as human beings, but that the county, the Board of Commissioners and the Sheriff let him do it should shock and frighten us all.”

“Imagine the most intimate, private and vulnerable moment you can,” said Jolly. “Now imagine Edward Awber is there in your bedroom, bathroom or doctor’s office taking pictures and video to watch it later for his own ‘entertainment.’ That’s what happened here and the people in charge let it happen.”

“It shocks the conscience,” said Mehr. “It’s a violation not only of these women, but of our whole society and if nothing is done to make sure it never happens again, it will and it will be worse.”