High School Intern Alleges Coercion by Butler County Sheriff’s Office Leading to False Confession

In a shocking case of alleged misconduct by law enforcement, a young high school student claims she was coerced into making a false confession. On February 27, 2026, Addyson Taylor filed a complaint in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of Ohio against Detective Michael McGuire, Sergeant Mike Hackney, and Deputy Anthony Wilmer of the Butler County Sheriff’s Office.

Addyson Taylor, then a 17-year-old intern at the Butler County Jail and student at Butler Tech, found herself embroiled in an investigation that would upend her life. According to court documents, on March 1, 2024, Taylor was subjected to an intense five-hour interrogation by Detectives Hackney and McGuire without parental presence or notification. The detectives accused her of smuggling contraband into the jail and pressured her into confessing to these crimes under duress. “They threatened to obtain search warrants for her home and phone if she did not confess,” states the complaint. Despite maintaining her innocence throughout most of the interrogation, Taylor eventually succumbed to their coercion and falsely confessed.

The complaint details how Taylor’s confession included admissions about being paid via Cash App to convey drugs like marijuana and ecstasy into the jail—claims that were later disproven when it was discovered she did not have such an app on her phone. Even after realizing these inconsistencies during their investigation, officers proceeded with arresting Taylor. The subsequent legal proceedings led to significant personal repercussions for Taylor: she was expelled from school activities and placed under electronically monitored home incarceration.

Taylor’s lawsuit accuses the defendants of violating her Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights through coercive interrogation tactics that resulted in false arrest and malicious prosecution. Her legal team argues that there was no probable cause for her arrest or prosecution since no independent evidence supported the allegations against her. They further claim that procedural missteps by law enforcement violated established legal standards requiring timely probable-cause determinations post-arrest.

The plaintiff seeks compensatory and punitive damages along with attorney fees as relief from these violations. Her attorneys argue that their client’s civil rights were severely infringed upon due to deceptive practices by those sworn to uphold justice.

Representing Addyson Taylor are attorneys Christopher J. Pagan from Repper-Pagan Law Ltd., based in Middletown, Ohio, and D. Joseph Auciello from Auciello & Evans LLC in Hamilton, Ohio. The case is presided over by Judge Douglas R. Cole under Case ID 1:26-cv-00209-DRC.