Inset: Jeffrey Buckmeyer (Underdog Law Office). Background: The Oregon Target where Jeffrey Buckmeyer was wrongly accused by an employee of having explicit images of girls on his phone (Google Maps).
A Target employee in Oregon "ruined" an innocent customer's life with a fake story about seeing photos of naked girls on his iPhone, with the stress of being "labeled a demon" who liked child sexual abuse images aggravating a heart condition he had and killing him, his family said after filing a lawsuit. A jury ordered the retail giant to pay up last week.
"Defendants intentionally instigated the FBI to detain plaintiff and to search plaintiff's home based on false information defendants provided to law enforcement," a 2019 civil complaint filed by Jeffrey Buckmeyer's estate and obtained by Law&Crime alleged.
Last week, a Multnomah County Circuit Court jury ordered Target to pay $150,000 for the "intentional infliction of emotional harm" and distress, which will be going to Buckmeyer's daughter, according to his girlfriend and mother of the child, Patty Anselmo, who took over the case after Buckmeyer died in April 2019 of cardiac arrest.
"He was labeled a demon," Anselmo told The Oregonian. "I certainly think this pressed the 'fast forward' button for Jeff," she said about his heart condition.
Anselmo and her lawyer, Michael Fuller, believe the stress of the allegations hurled at Buckmeyer made his heart condition worse and played a role in his death. They accused Target and the employee at the store in Tigard who randomly targeted Buckmeyer, who had no criminal history, of "intentionally" instigating the FBI to detain the Portland father and search his home "based on false information" provided to law enforcement.
"Specifically, defendants intentionally, knowingly, and falsely reported to law enforcement that defendants saw child abuse or child pornography materials on plaintiff's mobile phone," the complaint said. "Plaintiff never had child abuse or child pornography materials on his mobile phone."
According to the complaint, the Target worker — described as a cellphone technician in the electronics section — claimed Buckmeyer came to the store in July 2018 and asked for help deleting a large folder of photos from his phone of items that he sold on eBay.
The employee said he opened a file on the phone and saw photos of naked underage girls, some of whom were tied up. They claimed Buckmeyer was visible in some of the photos, and that he had an erection. He notified Target management who then called law enforcement.
The FBI launched an investigation after receiving the report from Target and "seized various electronics" from Buckmeyer, which were probed and examined over the course of several months.
"[Buckmeyer's] neighbors were made aware of the search warrant and plaintiff was limited in his ability to spend time with his own child while the FBI completed its investigation," the complaint alleged. "Ultimately the FBI concluded that plaintiff did not have any child abuse or child pornography materials and returned plaintiff's electronics."
Buckmeyer's case was dropped and he was never arrested or charged in relation to the accusation, according to court records. An independent forensics expert reviewed his mobile phone and determined that he did not have any child abuse or child pornography materials on it, with the expert and two others testifying during a five-day trial earlier this month.
"The experts testified that all they do is bust people who have this type of perversion," Fuller told The Oregonian. "They said these devices do not appear in any way to belong to someone who in any way is interested in any of this stuff. It's as clean as anything you'd ever see."
Speaking to Law&Crime, Fuller confirmed that Buckmeyer's last "dying wish" was to have his name cleared and Target held accountable. "Seven years ago I promised Jeff that I'd see his case through," Fuller said. "Last week we fulfilled my promise and we thank the jury for its service."
In the complaint, Fuller concluded that Target and the worker's "intentional, outrageous and extreme decision to falsely accuse [Buckmeyer] of possessing child abuse or child pornography materials was an extraordinary transgression of the bounds of socially tolerable conduct and exceeded any reasonable limit of social toleration, and caused plaintiff to suffer emotional distress."
Buckmeyer told Fuller in an email, "These charges have ruined my life in many ways," according to The Oregonian.
"Having some black cloud placed over him unfairly, it just left a mark on who he was," Anselmo said. "We were never sure if it was going to get cleared up. And now we can hold our heads up and say very clearly that this was completely fabricated. This was a lie."
Target did not immediately respond to Law&Crime's request for comment.