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A federal lawsuit accuses a former Blount County magistrate of using the authority of his position to coerce a teenage girl into his office where he allegedly took lewd pictures of her in lingerie.

The lawsuit was filed against Dustin Hatcher in U.S. District Court in Knoxville late Friday afternoon by Knoxville attorney Gregory Isaacs on behalf of the girl identified as Jane Doe, a minor, and her mother identified as Janet Doe.

According to the federal lawsuit, the act of which Hatcher is accused is a sexual assault because of the "fear of imminent bodily harm" and of "harmful and offensive touching."

The lawsuit also alleges during the incident that the girl was not free to leave, which amounts to "false imprisonment," and that she suffered from emotional distress as a result.

Hatcher resigned as magistrate Dec. 2 after he and his father, Blount County Circuit Court Clerk Tom Hatcher, learned the younger Hatcher is under investigation by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation for unspecified reasons.

Dustin Hatcher's resignation was announced by his father's office, which has supervisory authority over magistrates, whose duties are to sign arrest warrants, approve some search warrants and set bonds.

The lawsuit names as defendants Blount County, Dustin Hatcher, Tom Hatcher and the clerk's office.

The suit alleges that Dustin Hatcher forced the teenager to put on lingerie in his office on or about Dec. 1. When she protested, the suit says, Hatcher told her, "You owe me" and "You can trust me."

He then allegedly took digital photographs of her in the lingerie and of her bare breasts as she changed back into her clothes. The suit claims Hatcher showed the photographs he took to other Blount County employees.

The suit asks for unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

Blount County Sheriff James Berrong said the Blount County Sheriff's Office was initially notified of the Dec. 1 incident but immediately turned the case over to the TBI to avoid the possibility of a conflict of interest due to the working relationship between the sheriff's office and the Blount County Circuit Court Clerk's Office.

In the announcement of his son's resignation, Tom Hatcher confirmed a TBI investigation is in progress. TBI's policy prevents comment on an ongoing investigation until it is completed.