A Kannapolis woman is suing Iredell County Sheriff Phil Redmond and a deputy, claiming the deputy sexually harassed her after she dealt with him during the process of filing charges against her abusive ex-husband.

The suit, filed Wednesday in Iredell County, seeks damages “in excess of $10,000,” which is the wording for civil lawsuits in North Carolina. The suit demands a jury trial to determine the exact amount of damages.

Named in the suit are Redmond and a deputy, Ben Jenkins.

The woman, Suzanne Wick of Kannapolis, said during the course of her 18-month marriage, the ex-husband, who pleaded guilty to domestic violence charges in January, was an abusive alcoholic.

She said he physically and emotionally abused her and some of their four children.

Wick said in January 2009 she confronted her husband about an affair with a co-worker, and he pulled her by the hair into a walk-in closet and trapped her there for hours.

She said he grabbed a gun, smashed the barrel against the drywall and repeatedly pointed it at her head as she curled up in the corner. The torment lasted more than four hours before he fired the gun against the wall. Eventually she was able to escape.

About a month earlier, she said, she tried to intervene when he was choking their eldest son, and he punched her in the face, breaking her jaw.

After the January incident, she said, she consulted with an attorney, who advised her to file charges against her ex-husband. She did so, and then later returned home to remove all the guns and knives from the residence.

On Jan. 6, 2009, she went to the sheriff’s office and was referred to the domestic violence unit. Jenkins, now a road deputy, was then a detective sergeant in that unit.

That same day, her now ex-husband was arrested and she was informed it was safe to go back home.

She obtained a domestic violence protection order, and then began seeing a psychiatrist who diagnosed her with post-traumatic stress disorder and major depressive disorder, according to the lawsuit.

The suit claims that Jenkins began sexually harassing Wick in late January or early February, calling her repeatedly on his county-issued cell phone. She claims he commented on her appearance and attractiveness.

She said he continued calling her, asking her to come to his house or go out for dinner and drinks. Wick said she repeatedly declined his propositions, according to the lawsuit.

The comments eventually became sexually explicit, including asking her to perform a sex act on him and urging her to get breast implants. Other sexually explicit comments followed, she said, and were made on a weekly basis, and sometimes multiple times a week, according to the lawsuit.

She said he asked her to listen to some tapes of jail conversations involving her ex-husband, and he discouraged her boyfriend from staying to listen. She said Jenkins locked the door to the room, leaving him alone with her. During the ensuing hours of listening to the tapes, Wick said, Jenkins commented on her looks, the lawsuit states.

Wick said, at one point, she stood up while Jenkins went to the bathroom and, when he returned, he simulated a sex act with her. She said she told him to stop and immediately sat down, according to the lawsuit.

Wick said she later discovered she should never have been called in to listen to the tapes and that it was not mandatory for prosecution of her ex-husband, the lawsuit states.

She claimed Jenkins stalked her, showing up when she was shopping, according to the lawsuit.

Wick said Jenkins eventually began threatening her, citing an incident in February or March when, in a courtroom, he asked her to come to his house. When she replied that she didn’t think that was appropriate, Jenkins threatened to drop the charges against her husband, the lawsuit states.

“Suzanne was already hopelessly vulnerable after her near-death experience with her husband. Suzanne needed Jenkins to do his job and protect her,” the lawsuit reads. “Instead, he exploited his position of authority to try to initiate a sexual relationship with Suzanne. When she rebuked him, he committed an atrocious act — he threatened to release the ex-husband who had threatened to kill her only weeks before. That unspeakable threat was akin to a death threat and it terrified Suzanne and her children.”

Wick said she notified the sheriff’s office about Jenkins’ misconduct around April 17, 2009 and she was interviewed by two men. A few days later, she said, they corroborated the misconduct by Jenkins and asked her what she wanted to do.

Wick said she wanted Jenkins fired because she feared he would do this to another woman.

Jenkins was not terminated, but demoted to jailer. He was later promoted to road deputy.

Wick said she feared that taking civil action would cause her criminal case involving her ex-husband to be dropped.

She moved out of Iredell County, “in disappointment and fear, and bided her time until the criminal conviction was secure,” according to the lawsuit.

Sometime last year, the suit claims, it was learned that the sheriff’s office planned to restore Jenkins to a detective’s position. At that point, the suit claims, the Gaston County Domestic Violence Prevention Council and/or elements within the District Attorney’s office opposed the move. Jenkins was then moved to his current position as a road deputy.

However, the sheriff’s web site still lists Jenkins as a detective in the domestic violence unit, and that prompted the belief that he was restored to that unit, the suit claims.

Since her husband pleaded guilty to two felonies, assault by strangulation against the eldest son and felony child abuse against their daughter, along with six misdemeanors, she felt free to pursue legal action. Her husband was sentenced to 37 to 47 months.

Wick said she was devastated by Jenkins’ actions. She said she went to law enforcement for protection, but that didn’t happen.

Redmond nor Jenkins could be reached for comment Wednesday.