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A Utah man is suing Roosevelt police for $7.5 million, claiming a detective coerced him into writing a false confession

A Uintah County man once accused of sexual abuse has filed a lawsuit seeking more than $7.5 million from the Roosevelt Police Department and the detectives who investigated him, arguing that his civil rights were violated.

Jerahmia Hardman claims in his lawsuit, filed Tuesday in federal court, that Detective Pete Butcher and another Roosevelt officer coerced a false written confession from him during an interrogation and destroyed video proof of their actions.

Hardman, 30, was charged in 2015 with sexually abusing a young girl — but the case was tossed out by a judge two years later because of the missing video recordings.