Ouray County Plaindealer: A district court judge has opened public access to court records for a civil case against the former Ouray police chief, after it proceeded for almost 10 months in secret.

The woman who told investigators she was sexually assaulted at Jeff Wood’s home in Panoramic Heights in May 2023 is suing him for damages in a civil lawsuit, claiming he was responsible.

The Plaindealer has a policy of not naming individuals who accuse others of sexual assault and is not identifying the woman. This case is separate from the pending criminal case prosecuting Wood’s stepson, Nathan Dieffenderfer, and co-defendants Gabriel Trujillo and Ashton Whittington, but they have also been added as defendants in this civil suit.

The lawsuit, filed in May 2025, was immediately suppressed from public access after the woman’s attorney, Roger Sagal, filed a motion with the court arguing it needed to keep the civil case proceedings private to protect the woman

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