Former Iowa police officer accused of sex with teenagers while on duty and at police station

Michael Tobin, 35, who was fired from the Clarksville Police Department in March 2022, is currently facing three felony charges of sexual exploitation of a minor and eight misdemeanor charges of sexual exploitation through the use of images of minors engaged in sexual acts. Some of the charges are tied to allegations that Tobin showed a minor multiple images, obtained as part of previous criminal investigations, depicting various other minors engaged in sexual activity.

Tobin has pleaded not guilty to all charges and trial is scheduled for Oct. 10.

This week, Chloe Trowbridge, 18, and her sister, Alandria Trowbridge, 20, each filed lawsuits in Butler County District Court against Tobin, the city of Clarksville and Police Chief Barry Mackey. They are joined by their mother, Carrie Trowbridge, as co-plaintiff.

Chloe Trowbridge’s lawsuit alleges she and Tobin had sex on “countless” occasions when she was 16 years old and participating in a police ride-along program. The encounters took place in Tobin’s patrol car, at the police station and in his personal vehicle, with Tobin sometimes using his handcuffs and Taser on her. On some occasions, the lawsuit claims, the two engaged in sex during Chloe’s high school lunch break.

The lawsuit alleges Chloe “never consented to sexual acts” with Tobin, claiming Tobin repeatedly asked her for sexual favors, “which made her uncomfortable and she said no, until the requests from Tobin did not stop and she eventually gave in, gave up and ignored her hesitation to comply.”

Her lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for harassment, assault, child abuse, enticing a minor into sex, child endangerment, sexual grooming, kidnapping, stalking, illegal surveillance and negligence in the hiring, retaining and supervising of city employees.

Tobin, Mackey and the city have yet to file a response to either lawsuit.

Lawsuits detail alleged use of city offices and equipment

In her lawsuit, Chloe Trowbridge alleges she and Tobin met in June 2020, when she was 15, and Tobin interviewed her as part of an investigation into a supplier of alcohol to minors.

In September 2021, the lawsuit alleges, Tobin met with Chloe and her sister Alandria in Cedar Falls and bought them lunch. The sisters drove back home on Highway 218, with Chloe at the wheel and Tobin driving nearby in his own vehicle. Tobin and the sisters were “messing around and passing each other and flipping each other off,” the lawsuit states, when Chloe lost control of her vehicle, crossed three lanes of traffic and crashed on the side of the highway.

The sisters were not injured, but when a Janesville police officer arrived on the scene, Tobin allegedly identified himself as a police officer and indicated another vehicle had cut off Chloe’s car and forced her off the road, convincing the officer not to cite Chloe for losing control of her car.

At around that same time, the lawsuit alleges, she and Tobin began exchanging nude photos and videos through text messages and Face Time calls, and in November 2021, the two had sex for the first time while at the police station.

On Dec. 31, 2021, the lawsuit alleges, Chloe and others attended a New Year’s Eve party at the Clarksville Police Department. Several weeks later, in February 2022, Chloe was allegedly giving Tobin a foot massage in his office at the police department when the mayor of Clarksville walked in, saw Tobin seated at his desk, in uniform, with Chloe – then 16 years old – in a chair next to him. The mayor “did absolutely nothing” and conducted no investigation into the matter, the lawsuit claims.

Lawsuit: School officials discovered evidence of relationship

According to the lawsuit, on March 3, 2022, Chloe was called out of class because the Waverly Shell Rock School District information technology department had discovered a Google document that Tobin had used to communicate with her during a recent trip to Florida. The document was on the school district’s server, and Tobin had allegedly used it to send Chloe nude photographs and sexual messages.

According to the lawsuit, Chloe called Tobin and informed him the high school principal was aware of their relationship and Tobin “flipped out.” The Butler County sheriff was contacted, and deputies questioned the two sisters, which is when Chloe Trowbridge allegedly learned Tobin was “doing the same things” to her sister.

Days later, the lawsuit alleges, Chloe Trowbridge ran out of gas while driving home from work and Mackey, the Clarksville police chief, pulled up behind her in a patrol vehicle and said he had to do something in the backseat of Trowbridge’s car. Mackey allegedly entered the car, pulled out the backseat, removed something, and then drove away without any further discussion. The lawsuit alleges “Mackey presumably removed from the car an illegal global positioning device” that Tobin had placed there.

The separate lawsuit filed by Alandria Trowbridge against Tobin and the city seeks unspecified damages for harassment, assault, abuse, coercion, imprisonment, stalking and surveillance.

Alandria is almost two years older than Chloe, and in her lawsuit she claims to have first met Tobin in the winter of 2020 when she was 17.

According to Alandria’s lawsuit, in August 2021, days after Alandria turned 18, Tobin allegedly manipulated her and used her interest in a career in law enforcement to persuade her to participate in a ride-along with him in a patrol car. He allegedly drove her to secluded area and, without asking for consent, initiated sex with her.

The ride-alongs allegedly became a weekly occurrence, with sexual activity taking place each time. After each incident, Alandria alleges, she messaged Tobin and told him they needed to stop, but Tobin allegedly persuaded her into spending more time with him and engaging in sex, including one occurrence that took place at the police department.

From August 2021 through March 2022, Tobin allegedly assaulted Alandria Trowbridge at least 48 times. “No matter how many times she said she did not want to engage in sex with Tobin, he did not stop until the City of Clarksville fired him,” the lawsuit alleges.

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