‘Horrified’ advocates call for action after NYPD brass accused of leaking rape case details in smear campaign

Top-level NYPD officials allegedly used details from a criminal justice activist’s rape case to publicly smear her — sparking calls from “horrified” advocates for the police brass to be held accountable, The Post has learned.

“The treatment of this survivor was an egregious abuse of power,” read letters from more than half a dozen sexual assault survivor advocates sent to Mayor Eric Adams and Police Commissioner Edward Caban Monday.

“It violated the trust that is placed in the NYPD every time a sex crime survivor decides to report the crime to NYPD, and it risks silencing other survivors who are considering making a report,” said the letter, obtained by The Post — citing a disturbing new federal lawsuit that accuses top NYPD officials of misconduct.

Dana Rachlin, who filed the lawsuit on April 8, spent years as the executive director of the non-profit “We Build The Block” in Brooklyn working alongside police leaders — including current Chief of Department Jeff Maddrey and Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry — to help stem violence and strengthen ties between cops and the community.

But those relationships soured during the 2020 George Floyd protests after she criticized police brass for “violent policing” and spoke out against Deputy Inspector Craig Edelman, the commander of the 73rd precinct, according to her lawsuit.

She claims “libelous letters and memos” circulated to community and faith leaders, as well as potential partners for her non-profit, with details of her sexual assault from 2017 that only police officials could have known about, per the suit.

The alleged smear campaign came after Rachlin reported Edelman to police brass, including Maddrey, repeatedly for what she described in her lawsuit as “violent incidents.”

She allegedly caught him laughing at “videos of shootings, police assaults, and other violence suffered by New York City residents” – and encouraging other cops to view them for “entertainment,” the suit states.

Rachlin eventually convinced radio host Ebro Darden in June 2020 to press then-Police Commissioner Dermot Shea during an appearance on Hot97 about Edelman’s actions. NYPD officials believed that exchange led to the removal of Edelman from his post as the Brownsville precinct commander, the suit claims.

“The minute Ebro asked about Edelman, everyone spoke your name,” Maddrey allegedly texted Rachlin, the lawsuit states. “That wasn’t a good move.”

Precinct commanders in Brooklyn North were then told to bar Rachlin from the station houses and not work with her non-profit in their neighborhoods, according to the suit.

Current Chief of Patrol John Chell is accused of saying that “[Rachlin] should know we can humiliate her at any time,” according to her suit.

Rachlin says she pleaded with Maddrey “to put an end to this defamation campaign against her” when details of her rape complaint started allegedly being made public, according to the suit.

Maddrey had urged her to file the complaint and Daughtry had told her no one but a few investigators would know her identity to keep her case confidential, the suit alleges.

“I will call John Chell and see what he has to say… I’ll talk to the people on this side. Like I said if they had anything, any part of this, it will be put to an end,” Maddrey texted Rachlin, per the court documents.

Jane Manning, the director of the Women’s Equal Justice Project and a former sex crimes prosecutor, called for an investigation into the alleged leak, saying it wouldn’t be hard to track down who was responsible with only a few having access to Rachlin’s case.

“When the city’s advocates for sexual assault survivors heard about what happened to Ms. [Dana] Rachlin, we were horrified,” she told The Post.

“This is not an impenetrable mystery; the nation’s most powerful police department should be able to figure out who used confidential police files, kept under restricted access, to attack a crime victim,” she said.

Deputy Chief Michael Osgood, former head of the NYPD’s Special Victims Division, said the suit pointed to a “pattern and practice of gender-based discrimination” in the department.

“There is criminal conduct here the DA must address,” he added.

City Hall declined to respond to the letters and referred The Post to Adams’ comments last week when he told reporters, “Let the attorneys determine the pathway forward on this.”

MK Kaishian, Rachlin’s attorney, told reporters last week that police officials were “being unleashed on whoever they perceive that enemy to be.”

Chell and Daughtry, both of whom are close pals of Maddrey’s, have been locked in a feud with a Daily News columnist, calling him “deceitful” and attacking him on news stations, over a piece critical of the NYPD’s police tactics underground.

Chell was seen as a controversial pick for chief of patrol in 2022 with a jury saying in 2017 that he “intentionally” shot and killed 25-year-old Ortanzso Bovell back in 2008, which led to a $1.5 million settlement for Bovell’s family.

Adams has defended his police administration, telling reporters that he supported their campaign to push a more positive police “narrative.”

Last week, though, Adams said during his off-topic press conference that he doesn’t air any issues he has with anyone in his administration, rather opting for private discussions.