Caseworker strip-search alleged in Colo. lawsuit

The family of a 15-year-old El Paso County girl is suing over an alleged forced strip-search by a caseworker investigating abuse.

The Denver Post reports Thursday that the family argues the caseworker’s demand to take pictures of a girl’s naked buttocks to prove a crime was akin to child abuse.

The family has also asked Colorado Attorney General John Suthers to explain whether Colorado statute permits caseworkers to strip search children without consent.

The lawsuit was filed earlier this year. It says the girl and her parents refused the photograph in the family’s garage in 2012. After she refused, the caseworker allegedly called police to make her cooperate with the strip-search.

A spokeswoman for El Paso County Department of Human Services declined to comment on the litigation.