New Jersey Transit must fork over $760,000 to a woman who was sexually assaulted by two transit cops outside the Jersey City PATH train station almost four years ago, a jury found yesterday.
The two officers, Lennard Ryner, 30, and Gabriel Mantilla, 40, both pleaded guilty to official misconduct and served less than a year in jail for the August 2006 assault. The two men admitted to having sex with the woman, who was drunk, in their patrol car outside the station, but claimed it was consensual.
The jury ruled that NJ Transit bore responsibility for the episode because Mantilla had previously been brought up on departmental charges for allegedly making inappropriate comments about rape to a female passenger and it was suggested in his personnel file that he undergo psychiatric treatment.
NJ Transit did not respond to calls for comment.