Gallagher accuser complains about cops

In the latest twist in the ongoing rape case against embattled City Councilmember Dennis Gallagher, the unidentified victim filed a formal complaint with the New York Police Department (NYPD) last week, claiming that officers of the Queens Special Victims Squad mistreated her following the alleged attack.
In published reports, the 52-year-old grandmother says that police compounded her trauma by telling her she had an odor of alcohol. She also says that she was left alone in a locked interrogation room for more than a half hour.
“I felt like I was being raped twice,” said the woman in reports. “They were nasty to me. They made me feel so little. They saw how I was beat up. They should be a little sympathetic, whether they believe you or not.”
Reports further state that the victim - who was taken in for “further questioning,” according to police files - claims that while alone in the interrogation room, no one spoke to her or explained what was happening.
Paul J. Browne, NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Public Information, has said in reports that the Internal Affairs Bureau will investigate the interrogation procedure, but that, preliminarily, it seems that protocol was followed and that she was given medical attention and treated properly.
In conjunction with filing a complaint, the woman also sent a letter to Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown, whose office was unable to disclose the contents of the communication.
Stephen Mahler, Gallagher’s attorney, had no comment when The Courier Sun reached out to him.
The woman alleges that she met Gallagher inside Danny Boy’s bar on July 8, and that he took her back to his district office, where he raped her.
Gallagher, who maintains that any sexual relations with the victim were consensual, was arraigned on 10 counts of first- and third-degree rape, first- and third-degree criminal sexual act and second- and third-degree assault.
He is due back in court September 28. If convicted, he could face up to 25 years in prison.