Kenosha, Wis. — A longtime Kenosha police officer who was once accused—but never charged—of rape has filed a federal lawsuit claiming the city and its police chiefs passed him over for promotion because he is gay.
Officer Pep Moretti, who has worked for the Kenosha Police Department since 2009, filed the Title VII discrimination lawsuit in late March against the City of Kenosha, former Chief Eric Larsen, and current Chief Patrick Patton. In his complaint, Moretti alleges he was the top-ranked candidate for a sergeant position but was intentionally skipped over in 2022 and 2023 while lower-ranked and allegedly heterosexual officers were promoted instead.
The city has not yet been served with the lawsuit and has not filed a response. Moretti previously filed a discrimination complaint with the Wisconsin Equal Rights Division, which was dismissed. His appeal of that dismissal was also denied. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission later issued a “right to sue” letter, prompting the federal filing.
Moretti’s lawsuit paints a picture of a department hostile to gay officers—a narrative that many current and former KPD members dispute. KPD has employed several openly gay officers, including at least one gay sergeant, lieutenant, and captain, according to records and sources. Since Moretti was passed over, at least one openly gay man has been promoted, undermining his claim of department-wide anti-gay bias.
In the complaint, Moretti says he scored second on the department’s 2022 sergeant eligibility list, and after a promotion bumped the top-ranked officer to lieutenant, Moretti moved into the No. 1 position. Despite a sergeant vacancy in mid-2022, then-Chief Larsen opted to leave the position unfilled. When Chief Patton took over in 2023, he filled that same opening and two more—but bypassed Moretti in favor of others who ranked below him on subsequent eligibility lists.
Moretti alleges this was due to his sexual orientation. However, at least one gay man was promoted by KPD after Moretti’s missed opportunity. Moretti also alleges that officers ranked below him were promoted to detective positions while he was ignored. But the department followed its policy of selecting from the top five candidates on eligibility lists at the time of each promotion, and nothing in the complaint accuses KPD of deviating from that rule.
Moretti’s legal troubles outside of this lawsuit could complicate his claims. In 2016, Moretti was the subject of a sexual assault investigation involving a then-teenage male who accused Moretti of drugging and raping him in Illinois. The allegations were serious: the alleged victim reported blacking out after drinking from Moretti’s cup and waking up with rectal pain and injuries. A police report from the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department confirmed the teen suffered redness around the eye and soreness in the rectum and anus. He also said his bedroom was “trashed” and recalled Moretti walking around the house during the night.
However, the Walworth County District Attorney declined to charge Moretti, citing the alleged victim’s unwillingness to proceed. In an internal memo obtained by Kenosha County Eye, the DA noted the victim refused to press charges, effectively ending the case.
Transcripts of police interviews show conflicting accounts. The alleged victim claimed he blacked out and awoke during a sexual assault. Moretti, however, described the encounter as entirely consensual, saying the teen initiated the acts and continued to contact him afterward. He said he was stunned when police later contacted him and that the allegation “turned [his] world upside down.”
Despite the cloud of the past accusation, Moretti remained employed by KPD and continues to serve on the force. His lawsuit does not mention the 2016 rape allegation, nor does it explain why he believes it had no bearing on the department’s promotion decisions.
Moretti’s attorney, Amy Scarr, did not respond to a request for comment. Moretti is seeking damages, reinstatement of lost promotional opportunities, and a court order prohibiting future discrimination.
The case is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.
20 Responses
Funny. Ive been passed over for promotion based on DEI/affirmative action by a homosexual coworkerand, and female coworkers, and it was discrimination that is/was sanctioned and now celebrated. Nobody would choose a heart surgeon by affirmative action, why promote based upon it?
I sure hope the day of “reparations” for straight white males comes, and every government employer has to pay huge for the intentional discrimination. Every college who turned down admissions because they were “just” white males, we don’t need them here….
Shut your bitch ass up. Maybe you just suck at life you punk ass white boy!
I am a gay man in Kenosha County and if this is the same officer that tried to pick up that skater kid, he’s a bit off. When I seen the video of him talking to the straight cop about what happened, he seemed to kinda manipulate how “it is for us gays”. Not really dude, I never tried to hook up with a kid skating on the street.
Maybe he’s just a crappy cop?
Everyone has to self segregate to be a victim nowadays, even though nobody cares about your personal preferences as long as it doesn’t directly affect others. So what, you’re gay.. you should take a whole month and raise rainbow flags. Or just be a good person, work hard and help others and dont feel the need to tell everyone about sexual preferences. Nobody cares, so many try to paint themselves as victims to keep the idea of discrimination that isn’t there alive. If I had a gay neighbor, all I’d care about is if he kept his yard and house nice, not who he’s dating or married to. Except gays bitched for years about marriage, and hardly any of the gay men get married for some reason…..no longer a victim, we don’t want that now…
Perhaps Moretti forgot that famous line: “Police discretion”?
This is what that means.
Agree with above poster. Maybe he didn’t deserve a promotion.
But the fact all that other nonsense just went away? No charges filed? Corruption sometimes works in your favor Pep, but apparently not always.
“Pep Moretti”
The memes write themselves.
Previously, before his name change, was “Peter Percek.”
Wait, was that not his real name either???
This is so gay
Good rapist bad cop maybe?
Every employer has an employee or two who are just not right for advancement. Whether it’s a promotion that will put them in leadership of others or just a pay raise, something is just not right.
But they can’t fire them or should. So the employer just lets them stay where they are, safe and sound in that position. Either the employee will decide to move on to greener pastures or will become content realizing that they’ve reached their highest level at that employer. No harm no foul.
But because public employers have these “rules and requirements” it gives the employee more power than they should have.
Hopefully the department wins this challenge and this officer decides to move on. Only then will he realize his dreams or be reminded of his past.
We shouldn’t be penalized for doing nothing
If they’re required to pick from the top 5 candidates and they’ve promoted a gay cop before…..he doesn’t stand a chance. Just gonna make us waste money. He’s probably one of those people that people tolerate but nobody likes. This isn’t gonna help his cause any. Sounds to me like he’s kind of lucky to still have a job and freedom to be honest.
Thought is was more so about who you blow and not so much who you know anymore. This guy simply needs to get on his knees in the morning and let all the officers drop a load.
In all seriousness, Peter has always been a bit off, hardly doubt it’s due to him being a homosexual. People need to stop blaming their sexual orientation, race, gender, political beliefs, favorite coffee and just accept a better candidate was selected.
This opens a bigger wound. The vast majority of law enforcement agencies are inherently horribly managed — even the best of them. That’s because in their structure they don’t have a means to reward good cops for doing a good job other than to promote them to another job for which they may not have the appropriate skills. Being a good street cop does not necessarily make you a good supervisor (though it doesn’t hurt if you’re both). And we all know that the best managers in baseball weren’t always star players. Police agencies need to find better ways to reward good performance without taking people away from the jobs they do well.
There’s a very lesbian cop that keeps getting promoted, because she’s great. This guy probably just sucks (hehe)
If he gets Chad Kerkman for a judge, he’ll win for sure wink wink
If that isn’t the face of a diddler, I don’t know what is.
This is the officer known for sexually abusing young kids. Chief, you have a significant responsibility to reassign him to a position that does not involve interacting with young kids. Additionally, remind him not to misuse his authority. Chief Patton, please ensure he is informed of his right to appeal, although it appears that the DEI office is no longer available for such matters. Oops