2 Investigators: Sex Harassment Settlement Unravels
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A former St. John, Ind., police dispatcher claims she was sexually harassed and abused for years by a supervisor.
No one stopped him because "he ran the town," Joan Gorcos tells 2 Investigator Brad Edwards.
Her alleged abuser, Mike Fryzel, was a police commander and president of the St. John town council.
In a criminal court filing, Gorcos and two other women have accused him of "sexual battery."
In Gorcos' case, she alleged that Fryzel, among other things, made lewd remarks, "slapped her buttocks" and "poked her breasts," court records show.
"I'm frightened of him," Gorcos says. "He's threatened me for years if I opened my mouth about anything he would bury me."
Fryzel resigned in 2015 after the allegations came to light. Lake County, Ind., authorities charged him a year later.
Gorcos sued Fryzel and St. John in federal court. In November, the suit settled for $150,000, records show.
Gorcos says she hasn't been paid because she's refused to drop her criminal complaint against Fryzel.
"I said I'm not going to prosecutors on his behalf, I never said I would," she tells Edwards.
Frysel's attorney says his client "vehemently denies the accusations against him."
A St. John attorney says the town wants the matter resolved as soon as possible.
But Gorcos is still waiting for her check.
She's now looking for a new job, too, because she had to resign as part of the settlement.
"If you could turn back the clock would you report it?" Edwards asked.
"Not over what I've been through, no," she says. "It's not been worth it at all."
