PORT CLINTON, Ohio — The City of Port Clinton, through its insurer, has paid $1.7 million to settle the federal civil-rights lawsuit brought by firefighter and EMT Rebekah Huskey-Archacki against former Fire Chief Kent Johnson and the city, her attorneys announced this week.
Huskey-Archacki filed the lawsuit in September 2023 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. The suit alleged that Johnson subjected her to serial sexual harassment and sexual assaults, that city personnel retaliated against her after she reported his conduct, and that Johnson secretly took intimate photos from her phone. In a March 2, 2026 deposition, Johnson admitted he lied to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation about taking the images.
Following an independent outside investigation, Port Clinton fired Johnson. He was later criminally convicted of assault and other charges tied to his misconduct against Huskey-Archacki and sentenced to 180 days in jail.
Discovery in the civil case also uncovered text messages showing Johnson’s circle plotting retaliation. Johnson’s son, Trevor Johnson — a former Port Clinton fire lieutenant who also worked as a major-crimes investigator for the Ottawa County Prosecutor’s Office — invoked his Fifth Amendment privilege more than 20 times in a March 3, 2026 deposition when questioned about falsifying public records, tampering with evidence and conspiring to obstruct an internal investigation into retaliation.
A criminal charge and special-prosecutor investigation involving Trevor Johnson remain pending. Huskey-Archacki also filed a private-citizen criminal affidavit in the Ottawa County Court of Common Pleas accusing him of falsifying public records and tampering with evidence to cover up the retaliation campaign.
The $1.7 million payment resolves the civil litigation. Her attorneys said the case exposed a sustained pattern of harassment followed by institutional retaliation — and that the settlement brings a measure of accountability for the city’s failures.
