PITTSBURGH — A man fired before his convictions were overturned on charges that he molested three mentally disabled men at a state home, has sued a prosecutor whom an appeals court determined coached the testimony of one alleged victim.

David W. Anderson, 44, of Oil City, was sentenced to five to 15 years in prison in 2002, but remained free while he appealed his convictions for molesting the men he cared for at the Polk Center in Venango County. Anderson has consistently denied wrongdoing in the criminal case which began when a co-worker reported seeing Anderson in a sexual encounter with a resident in 1999.

In a $10 million lawsuit filed late Friday in U.S. District Court, Anderson targets Venango County and, specifically, Assistant District Attorney James Carbone who prosecuted the sex abuse allegations and handled subsequent appeals.

The lawsuit contends Carbone violated a 2007 court order by meeting with one of the alleged victims for hours and coaching him on how to respond at the man's mental competency hearing before a retrial. The retrial never occurred because the Superior Court dismissed the remaining charges in early 2009 after finding Carbone engaged in "prosecutorial misconduct."

"The Court finds Mr. Carbone's dishonesty in this matter appalling," according to the Superior Court opinion that was filed as an exhibit with the lawsuit.

Among other things, the appeals court found Carbone tried to hide his visit with the disabled man, and he misstated facts about what he did at a July 2008 hearing on whether a judge should dismiss the charges.

"The Court finds that Mr. Carbone's ongoing and egregious misconduct offends the principles articulated by our Supreme Court ..." and found Carbone's "out-of-court subversive tactics are particularly heinous," the Superior Court opinion states.

Carbone and the district attorney's office did not immediately return a call for comment Monday. Anderson's attorney, Neal Sanders, declined to comment and said Anderson will not answer questions.

Although Anderson was convicted of molesting all three men and sentenced to prison, a judge allowed Anderson to remain free on bail during his appeals. Carbone had argued Anderson arranged to be alone with the men so he could molest them, and all three had mental abilities of children younger than 8.

In February 2001, Anderson was convicted of indecently assaulting one man, but a jury deadlocked on charges concerning two other patients. In September 2001, Anderson was convicted of indecently assaulting those two patients and having involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with one of them.

The Superior Court dismissed the first conviction on procedural grounds, and the convictions involving the other two men because of comments Carbone made during his closing arguments to the jury.

Carbone sought to retry Anderson on charges he molested the last two victims, but that never happened.