Minor Child And Mother Are Sueing Shelby County And Juvenile Court For The Acts Of Henry Hodges

There is documentation that proves that as soon as 2004 Juvenile Court was aware that their employee Henry Hodges was known to have inappropriate relationship with minor females in their custody. Juvenile Court violated the trust of children and their parents by allowing Hodges to remain on the job until last week.

In a story I broke first, it was found that DHS was investigating Hodges for having a minor female in the custody of Juvenile Court expose her breast and fondle herself as he watched. There is also the matter where a minor child in custody for a curfew violation was contacted by Hodges after she was released to her mother. In this case Hodges called the child's home where the mother pretended to be her child. The mother states in a complaint to Juvenile Court that Hodges wanted to meet the minor child and that he told the mother pretending to be the child "You know we got to keep this on the downlow".

But it's the case where Hodges was charged with Contributing to the delinquency of a minor that is about to cost Shelby County millions. This case involved a minor from California at the time by the name of Jazzmine Coleman who was in the custody of Juvenile Court. The child was a runaway that was flown back to California by the court. Henry Hodges contacted the minor child and sent her a bus ticket so that she could runaway again and return to Memphis where according to Coleman he had vaginal and oral sex with her.

A $12.5 million dollar Federal lawsuit has been filed electronically today by Attorney Javier Bailey in behalf of Jazzmine Coleman and her mother Dorthy Coleman who both now reside in Silverdale Washington. Here's the basis for the lawsuit:


The Defendant Henry Hodges was a long time employee of Shelby County Government. More specifically, at all relevant times pleaded herein, said Defendant was a supervisor at Shelby County Juvenile Court, in the Detention Center
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As Supervisor in the Detention Center, the Defendant Hodges was responsible for overseeing the care and custody over the minor children held in said detention area. On or about March 18, 2004, several persons complained to Shelby County Juvenile Court Deputy Administrator Ronnie Clark that Defendant Hodges had developed inappropriate personal relationships with many of the minor girls being held in the custody of the Detention Center. Accordingly, an Inner-Office Memorandum was written by Mr. Clark to Administrator Wayne Rubenstein placing said administration on notice of the questionable inappropriate behavior of Defendant Hodges. Said Memorandum was placed in the master personnel file of the Defendant Hodges at the Human Resource Office of the Defendant Shelby County Government. No investigation was conducted and no disciplinary action was taken pursuant thereto. Hodges continued working with minor girls in the care and custody of Shelby County Juvenile Court.

In January 2006 the subject minor child, Jazzmine Coleman, was listed as a runaway from the California Department of Children Services. She was placed in the custody of said agency after a fire was started at the home of her biological father with whom she was visiting. She was being held there until such time as she could be turned back over to the care of her mother, the Plaintiff Dorothy Coleman, who lives in the State of Washington. The child was picked up by the police in Memphis, Tennessee while visiting with her adult sister. She was immediately placed in the care and custody of the Defendant Shelby County Juvenile Court. The Defendant Henry Hodges supervises one of the shifts and took notice of the subject minor child.

In February of 2006 the Defendant Hodges began pulling the minor child Jazzmine Coleman out of her quarters at odd hours of the night. He began to touch and fondle said minor child, and often asked her to expose her breasts to him. He would frequently suggest to the child that he could help her make money and that once she was returned to California, he would assist her in returning to Memphis. All of this behavior occurred while Hodges was on duty as a supervisor at Shelby County Juvenile Court and as an employee of Shelby County Government.

On February 27, 2006, Ms. Lula Pope (the aunt of the minor child) filed a formal complaint with the Defendant Shelby County Juvenile Court wherein she alleged that the Defendant had developed an inappropriate relationship with the subject minor child while she was in the care and custody of the Defendants. A minor investigation was conducted by the Defendant Shelby County Government. At no time did said investigators take the time to interview Jazzmine Coleman or any other ward of the court. The Defendant Hodges denied the allegations. He was allowed to continue working in the detention area with young girls, notwithstanding the obvious patterns that had developed regarding his inappropriate behavior with the children.

On March 16, 2006 the Defendant Hodges utilized his access to the records and files contained at Juvenile Court and makes contact with the subject minor child Jazzmine Coleman. He then sent her a bus ticket to run-away from the custody of California Children’s Services and return to Memphis. Upon returning to Memphis, Hodges met with Jazzmine Coleman and tould her that his favoritism towards her had a price. He then threatened to send her back to California if she did not have sex with him. He smoked marijuana and drank alcohol with said minor child and demanded both oral and vaginal sex. The minor child submited to his demands. He then gave her money to spend.

Subsequently, the Defendant Hodges harbored the runaway and engaged in oral and vaginal sex with the young girl several times. He threatened to send her back if she did not submit to his demands.

In late March of 2006, Jazzmine Coleman was sent back to California, but eventually returned to her mother, the Plaintiff, in the State of Washington. At some point law enforcement was notified of the fact that the Defendant Hodges facilitated the subject child’s return to Memphis. Said Defendant was charged with the misdemeanor of Contributing To The Delinquency Of A Minor. The Defendant Shelby County Government suspended the Defendant Hodges for 15 days but does not remove him from working with young girls, and failed to warn any of the other young girls of the possible peril in being associated with Hodges.

Notwithstanding the suspension and the criminal charges, the Defendant Hodges maded contact with the subject minor child again in Memphis, and from June 2007 through November 2007 he engaged in sexual intercourse with the child several times. In November 2007, Hodges picked the child up in his vehicle and parked in a secluded spot, where he performed oral sex upon the child in the car. Hodges was not removed from the employment of the Defendant Shelby County Government until April 2008, after allegations surfaced that he had been involved with other young girls.

The lawsuit is asking for $10,000,000 for Jazzmine Coleman, $1,500,000 for Dorthy Coleman, and $1,000,000 from Henry Hodges.