NEW ORLEANS – City prosecutor Henry Dillon III raped her in his office, to which he had told her to report for a drug test, a woman claims in Federal Court.

She seeks punitive damages from the city, Mayor Ray Nagin and City Attorney Sherry Landry. The woman claims the city was negligent, as Dillon had been suspended from his job previously after being arrested in 1998 on suspicion of forcible rape, a case that became notorious when then-Mayor Marc Morial released the alleged victim’s name to the media. The state declined to prosecute Dillon in that case, but he was arrested again in 2004 after this plaintiff reported the attack to the police; those charges are pending, she says. The woman was arrested with her boyfriend in July 2004 on suspicion of public lewdness: having intercourse in a parked car, and possession of marijuana, the suit states. She pleaded not guilty and on Nov. 30, 2004, appeared for her trial and was told to consult with Dillon, who had authority to recommend whether she would be prosecuted and/or what sentence she would receive if she pleaded guilty, she claims. She says Dillon told her he would help her if she reported to his office that afternoon for a drug test. She did so, and he forcibly raped her there, she says. She reported it to the city police, who arrested Dillon; criminal charges against him remain unresolved, the suit states. After Dillon’s 1998 arrest on suspicion of forcible rape, he was suspended from his job as an assistant city attorney working as a prosecutor. The state did not prosecute Dillon in that case; the plaintiff says the decision was taken without an independent investigation, and because of Dillon’s political connections. Mayor Morial then reinstated Dillon. The plaintiff in this case claims the city has received, and ignored, numerous complaints from women who allege Dillon sexually preyed upon them. Represented by Mary Howell, who is temporarily living in Malden, Mo., the plaintiff seeks punitive damages.