Lawsuit filed against Lake Oswego government, former police officer convicted of official misconduct

A woman filed an $800,000 lawsuit against the city of Lake Oswego, Police Chief George Burke and former Lake Oswego police officer Michael Svoboda Tuesday, April 9, a day after Svoboda was convicted of official misconduct for having sex while on duty.

Upon an investigation by the Oregon City Police Department at the request of Burke, Svoboda was put on administrative leave and later resigned after a woman had alleged to have had sex with him in 2019 in a Kruse Way parking lot while the officer was working. Svoboda was sentenced to 12 months of bench probation and 40 hours of community service in Clackamas County Circuit Court April 8.

Now, a woman has filed a lawsuit alleging that Svoboda “used his official status and position as a law enforcement officer to sexually exploit vulnerable individuals, including Plaintiff and, upon information and belief, other known victims of domestic violence, for his sexual gratification while on duty.”

The lawsuit alleges that Svoboda used his job title to facilitate sexual relations with the intent to impregnate women while on duty. Regarding the purported liability of the city and Burke, the lawsuit posited that the city and police chief failed to monitor Svoboda to ensure that he wasn’t a danger to the public and should have known that he was sexually exploiting women while on the clock.

“As a direct result of the conduct of (Svoboda), Plaintiff has suffered harm, including the violation of her right to privacy and bodily integrity, severe psychological harm, humiliation, anxiety and distress,” the lawsuit read.“Chief Burke and the City of Lake Oswego had a duty to supervise (Svoboda) and ensure that he conducted himself in a manner that honored and respected all those he encountered in the public. LOPD and the City of Lake Oswego are responsible and liable for the actions and omissions of (Svoboda).”

As is city of Lake Oswego policy, Burke said he could not comment on pending litigation.

In a tort claims notice sent last September, the plaintiff’s attorney with Oliveros Law, Louren Oliveros, said that the plaintiff was a victim in domestic violence proceedings and that Svoboda promised to provide protection to her and a relationship “if she became pregnant with his child.” The tort claim notice also claimed Svoboda told the woman that he was monitoring her location and threatened to send police to her for a welfare check.

The complaint noted that Svoboda had access to databases with citizens’ personal information as a police officer and he reached out to the plaintiff within a week after police responded to a domestic violence situation involving the plaintiff.

“He used his position and the prestige of his law enforcement badge to assure (the plaintiff) that he was a good and honorable person to earn her trust. The Lake Oswego Oswego Police Department would not hire him if he was not a good person, he insisted,” the tort claim notice reads.

What did the Oregon City investigation show?

Records regarding the Oregon City Police Department’s criminal investigation of Svoboda — which were obtained by the Review through a public records request — don’t include further reference to the former officer allegedly targeting domestic violence victims, but a handful of women told investigators that he had reached out to them while he was on duty and sent them inappropriate messages and pictures.

Svoboda and the complainant had what she told investigators was a sexual relationship, which continued when they had sex in a parking lot near Directors Mortgage on Kruse Way at around 1-3 a.m. in 2019.

“On that date, on numerous occasions afterward, (Svoboda) told Plaintiff that she could never tell anyone about the encounter or both of them would be in trouble and that there would be consequences,” the complaint reads. The plaintiff also believed that Svoboda was tracking her location at various times.

Svoboda would send pictures of himself masturbating while on duty and would not interact with her much outside of work, saying he didn’t have time, according to the Oregon City department’s interview with the plaintiff.

The plaintiff grew suspicious of Svoboda’s behavior, according to an interview with Oregon City police, upon speaking with another woman who had chatted with Svoboda on a dating site after he had been called to her residence for a police related activity. This eventually led to the plaintiff emailing City Manager Martha Bennett about Svoboda’s conduct.

“(The plaintiff) said the messages made her sick to her stomach because she felt like Michael was preying on (the other woman), having responded to her residence on a call,” the investigation document reads.

Bennett emailed the plaintiff that she took her allegation seriously and would ask someone at the city to call her.

However, the other woman told police that she never met up with Svoboda and they never talked about anything sexual.

The Oregon City police also interviewed the mother of Svoboda’s child, who said that she and other women were told by Svoboda that he wanted to impregnate them. The woman also said that Svoboda had sent her sexually explicit messages and pictures while on duty, including ones that showed his genitals. The woman further stated that Svoboda had forced himself onto her and sucked her nipple in an incident in 2022.

The woman told police that Svoboda should not be an officer because “of “what he is doing to women and that he has had sexual intercourse while on duty. (The woman) believes this shows Michael does not have integrity and added that he has been causing chaos in women’s lives,” the investigation document reads.

Another woman whom the police interviewed said that Svoboda would send nude photos of himself while on duty and admitted to her that he had had sex while on duty. The police were sent copies of those messages.

The plaintiff filed her complaint to the city in May of last year, around the same time that she stopped communicating with Svoboda, according to text messages included in the report.

Another woman who Svoboda had chatted with provided screenshots of the former officer admitting to having sex while on duty.

An attorney who represented Svoboda in the criminal case did not immediately return a request for comment.