The last thing Haley Manley wants is sympathy from the public. She knows she won't get much as the mistress of the chief law enforcement officer in Laurens County.
"They shouldn't as far as what I was willing to do, what I was willing to be involved in, as far as the affair for the three years," Manley said.
But what she does want is her job back at the Laurens County Sheriff's Office. She said longtime sheriff Ricky Chastain is to blame. She is suing him for sexual harassment. The lawsuit filed details her account of how she says he forced her out of a job for refusing to have an abortion. Manley claimed the child was Chastain's and said it wasn't the first child they conceived together.
Manley said their relationship began shortly after she started her job in January of 2008.
Sheriff Chastain declined our request by phone for an on camera interview but during that conversation he admitted to us he did have an affair with Manley for two and a half years.
When I asked Manley why she went after a man who was married she replied, "When the personal conversation happened we were just talking like you and I are. The phone numbers got exchanged by saying this is my number text me or call me anytime you need anything, we are glad to have you here as a new employee."
Manley said she got pregnant with Chastain's child sometime in June or July of 2010. She said Chastain told her she had to have an abortion.
"He is the one who started it because it would have never been a thought in my mind," Manley said. "I didn't believe in it."
But Manley said she went through with the abortion. When asked why she replied, "I would have loosed him if I didn't and I would lose my job. That wasn't an option. I loved my job, not as much as I loved him though.
Manley said Chastain drove her to the abortion in Charlotte in his county vehicle.
Chastain admitted to me over the phone he drove Manley to Charlotte for the abortion in his county-issued vehicle and that he thought the child could be his.
Manley said Chastain then wrote a check from his personal credit account to her grandfather Perry Don Powell, the pastor at Woodruff Road Worship Center. The amount: $14,500.
Chastain said he wrote the check from his personal credit card account out to her grandfather to "hide the affair" but said it was a loan and he wants his money back.
"$14,500 is what it costs to lease my house for a year," Manley said.
Powell admitted the check was written to him by Chastain. When we asked if it was hush money Powell replied, "Probably was because he gave it to me so that I could write a check for her house rent for the next year."
When I asked Powell why he didn't just let Manley live with him he replied, "We didn't really have any room for her to live with us."
Manley said the relationship with Chastain continued and Chastain told her he was heading for a divorce.
"After the next election I'll have my retirement in, I can get divorced, we can be together, I can finish out my term as sheriff," said Manley as she recalled her conversation with Chastain.
When I asked Manley if she believed Chastain was going to leave his wife she replied, "Of course. I had no reason not to."
Manley said she got pregnant with Chastain's baby again in September of 2010.
When we asked what Chastain's response was when Manley told him she was not going to have a second abortion Manley said, "Well then you know what's gonna come."
I asked Manley if that meant he was going to fire her and she replied, "No, he would have never said that. Never. And I asked him to. I said, 'Just fire me if it's that big of a deal. Let me go draw my unemployment till after the baby is born and then I'll look for a job. No one's gonna hire me in this economy pregnant period'." Manley said Chastain then replied, "No, I'm not that stupid, Haley."
According to the lawsuit, Manley said her work environment in the sheriff's office became increasingly hostile.
"He did call a meeting and it was between him and three other captains and other unidentified people that I don't know who they were and he told them we need to figure out how to get her out, she needs to quit, we can't fire her she has to quit," said Manley. When I asked Manley how she knew this she replied, "Because one of the captains came forward a few months later and said he couldn't handle it anymore his conscience had got to him."
Manley claimed she feared for her safety and resigned on October 6th of 2010 and later chose to have the second abortion.
Manley hired attorney John Reckenbeil and filed a lawsuit against Chastain, the county, and several employees of the sheriff's office.
When I asked Reckenbeil what his client wants from the lawsuit he replied, "If she could have her job back and she could have the lost wages and have the embarrassment of everything go away of the loss of a job that's what she is looking for."
Chastain denied that he forced Manley to resign.
In a statement to us by phone Chastain said, "I am not proud of a lot of things I've done and the people of the county are the ones that will suffer and my kids and my wife. I wish I could take it back. I can't. I will try to move forward."
Manley is also suing Laurens County saying, through phone records, the administrator knew of the relationship.
We asked the county administrator, Ernest Segars, if he knew about the relationship and he said, "No." However, he did tell us he recently received notice of a civil rights complaint Manley had filed with the EEOC. That complaint details similar allegations as the lawsuit.
We also called each captain named in the lawsuit but did not receive responses.
When I asked Manley what her response is to people who may think she is a scorned woman she replied, "Maybe at first. I was very upset and mad but I took a lot of time to think about what happened and put my ducks in a row, obtained an attorney, I asked what my rights were, so I didn't immediately retaliate."
Manley is hoping this lawsuit will force Chastain and others to be accountable for what she claims in the lawsuit is an abuse of power that left her without a job.
"Just for them to answer for what was wrong and make it right," Manley said.
Late yesterday Sheriff Chastain released another statement to News Channel 7. He said in part, "If any claims of employment retaliation exist as a result of the affair, they are totally unfounded, without merit and false. I look forward to the completion of any findings in that matter."
The lawsuit was filed today in Laurens County. We will stay on top of this and let you know the outcome.
Laurens County Sheriff Ricky Chastain began his career with the sheriff's office in 1990. He was elected sheriff in 2000. This is his third term in office.
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