A former Giddings police officer accused of propositioning a 21-year-old driver during a late-night traffic stop in 2024 has formally denied the sexual misconduct allegations against him, while admitting he turned off his body and dash cameras before the encounter ended. Cory James Williams made the admissions and denials in a court filing Wednesday responding to a federal lawsuit filed against him and the city of Giddings.
The lawsuit stems from a Sept. 20, 2024, traffic stop in Giddings, which KXAN Austin reports was first filed in federal district court in Austin. According to the lawsuit, Williams propositioned the driver after deactivating his cameras and suggested she could avoid arrest by giving him a reason not to take her to jail, a separate account from NewsNation details. The driver alleges Williams asked whether she understood what he was asking for and told her he would have asked her to expose her breasts to him if he were still in the military.
In his response, Williams denied all of the sexual misconduct allegations in the lawsuit, including claims of sexual advances, propositions, and requests for favors in exchange for leniency. He acknowledged stopping the driver, directing her beside his patrol vehicle, discussing the possible consequences of her traffic violations, and deactivating his body-worn and dash cameras before the stop concluded. Williams has argued the allegations do not establish a substantive due-process violation because the plaintiff did not allege he touched her, made her disrobe, or compelled a physical sexual act.
Williams Points to Tow Truck Wait, Passengers Needing Rides
Williams's filing offers an alternate explanation for the delay and camera shutdown during the stop. He said he was weighing the driver's cooperation along with the circumstances of three passengers who needed family members to come from Bastrop County to pick them up late at night, and that he was waiting on a tow truck during the encounter. Williams ultimately cited the driver for speeding, failure to maintain financial responsibility and driving without a license before letting her go, according to NewsNation's reporting on the lawsuit.
On the question of why he turned his cameras off, Williams said in his response that he did not explain the deactivation in his incident report. He told an assistant police chief he believed department policy permitted ending the recording early when an encounter was non-confrontational and its disposition was already understood, and said he was unaware that policy required recording to continue until the incident fully ended.
Camera Policy and Training Disputed
Williams's filing states he signed a police general-orders receipt on March 13, 2024, acknowledging he had read and understood the department's general orders. But he said he does not recall department personnel separately reviewing the camera policy with him, testing him on it, or giving him field instruction on recording requirements. The driver, for her part, has criticized the Giddings Police Department's enforcement of its body-camera policy as insufficient.
The lawsuit claims Williams had a broader pattern of isolating young female motorists during late-night stops, turning off his cameras, steering conversations toward sexual topics, and implying that favorable treatment depended on entertaining his advances. According to the amended lawsuit, Williams conducted approximately 235 recorded traffic stops between June 1 and Sept. 24, 2024, and manually deactivated his body-worn and dash cameras before nine of those stops concluded, without documenting or reporting a reason to his chain of command, the station notes. NewsNation reports the lawsuit alleges Williams made sexually suggestive comments to young female drivers during at least three of those nine stops. In his response, Williams admitted deactivating cameras during other stops without documentation.
Internal Investigation and Criminal Case
The Giddings Police Department opened an internal affairs investigation after the driver complained about the stop. Williams later surrendered his peace officer's badge and was indicted for tampering with a governmental record, according to the lawsuit, as reported by NewsNation. That outlet also reports Williams's criminal case was ultimately reduced from a third-degree felony tampering-with-evidence charge to a misdemeanor count of official oppression.
Williams has now filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit against him based on qualified immunity. The city of Giddings, named as a co-defendant, moved separately on Sept. 23 to dismiss the case, arguing the driver did not plead facts connecting any city policy to her alleged constitutional injury and that it cannot be held liable for Williams's alleged criminal acts, per the city's filing described by KXAN Austin. The plaintiff replied to the city's motion on Oct. 7, arguing the city's attorneys misread part of her initial complaint. City counsel has previously told the station it does not comment on pending litigation. The case remains ongoing.
