This video is extremely disturbing. It’s a KLAS-TV Las Vegas news clip featuring a woman named Monica Contreras, who was allegedly sexually assaulted by a court marshal and then arrested on false premises when she complained about it to judge (hearing master) Patricia Donninger.

Here’s what happened: Contreras was in Clark County family court in August 2011, with her two-year-old daughter, finalizing a divorce case. Then she was suddenly taken, by herself, into a room with court marshal Ron Fox to be searched for drugs. (There is no explanation given for why the search was needed.) During the search, the 28-year-old alleged the marshal touched her breasts, her butt and asked her to pull up her shirt. Then, Contreras walked back into the courtroom where Donniger sat, politely said she felt uncomfortable and “offended” by Fox’s requests to lift up her shirt, and that if she needed to be body-searched, could it be done by a woman. Patricia Donninger ignored her. Then Fox suddenly instructed another cop on duty to arrest her for “making false allegations against a police officer.”

But, as KLAS explains, there is no law about making false allegations against a police officer. It’s a bullshit charge he just made up because she was accusing him of sexual assault. And there is also no law that allows a police officer accused of sexual assault to arrest the accuser.

What happened next on the KLAS-TV video is most disturbing to me: confronted with the two officers threatening to cuff her, Contreras broke down crying and then announced it was “all lies.” Watching to see how the duress has been escalating, it’s easy to see why she would suddenly recant everything. “Let me go please, let me go, it was all lies,” she pleaded, crying.  The cops then told her she had to walk up to the microphone and recant into the microphone. Instead, Contreras pleaded to Donninger, again, that Fox asked her to lift up her shirt, that she wasn’t comfortable with that, and asked why she should be arrested for this. AND THE JUDGE IGNORED HER. That’s when the cops put the cuffs on Monica Contreras, while her two-year-old plays walked around confused. Her poor child was sent to some place called Child Haven, while Contreras was sent to jail.

Two months later, Contreras filed a complaint with Clark County Court Marshal Internal Affairs. After a six-month investigation into her complaint, Fox was fired. Other court marshals are supposedly being investigated as well for attempting to cover this incident up.

Ron Fox is now suing Clark County and maintains his innocence (despite the fact he tried to arrest her on a charge that does not exist). The kicker is that he claimed through his lawyer that Contreras’ arrest was justbecause no one in the court room tried to stop him.

What a gross abuse of power.  I hope Monica Contreras sues the pants off of him.

Read more: The Frisky