Casper Ex-probation Officer Defaults on Harassment Lawsuit

A former Wyoming Department of Corrections officer in Casper defaulted in a federal civil case Wednesday after he failed to respond to a new complaint that he pressured a woman on probation to send him sexual comments and pictures or risk being sent to jail.

However, U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Freudenthal on Thursday denied the woman's request for a hearing to determine damages because she did not file the appropriate motion to seek a default judgment.

Freudenthal added the court may reconsider her request if she files the appropriate motion for a default judgment.

Neither the woman's attorney Ian Sandefer nor Maul's attorney Caleb Wilkins immediately returned calls for comment.

The woman sued Maul for violating her 14th Amendment rights of equal protection under the law and for violating her Eighth Amendment rights to be free from cruel and unusual punishment, according to the initial complaint filed May 14.

The harassment began in May 2018 after Natrona County Circuit Court placed the woman on one year of probation for first-time misdemeanor possession of marijuana.

The court assigned Maul as her probation officer, and it ordered her to follow the rules or else have her probation revoked, according to the complaint.

After three months, Maul told the woman he would be asking for her to be placed on unsupervised probation or be discharged from probation because she had paid her fines and was fully compliant with the rules.

He asked the woman to add him as a friend to her Snapchat account, she accepted his request, began sending her unsolicited sexualized comments and pictures, asked her to send him nude photos of herself, and made explicit statements of the sexual acts he wanted.

If she didn't comply, she was concerned Maul could revoke her probation and that her children would be taken from her, according to the complaint.

The amended complaint was filed Sept. 6, and was substantially the same as the initial complaint.

The Wyoming Department of Corrections sets guidelines for its employees including not having a personal, romantic or sexual relationship with any current or former offender, according to the complaint.

Department of Corrections spokesman Mark Horan said in May that Maul had not been a department employee since Dec. 5.