On Monday a judge heard arguments from WSPA-TV's lawsuit against the City of Seneca over withholding information. The Seneca Police Chief fired two officers, demoted one, and another resigned over sexual harassment allegations following a complaint filed by a female officer in December.
The information released by the Seneca Police Department does not give us the former officers' names or tell us who is accused of doing what. WSPA-TV’s attorney Carl Muller says this is public information. Muller says, “Two reasons…One is that it's the conduct of law enforcement, which is one of the most important things that government does and two, it's the use of taxpayers’ money. These people are paid by taxpayers. People have to work hard for their money, and they want to be sure it's spent right.”
City of Seneca attorney Michael Smith told the judge that the names of the former officers and the allegations against them do not fall under information that is public record. Smith says, “It's a privacy issue because of the individuals. There's a victim, and there are other individuals that were charged that were not employees of the city at the time the Freedom of Information request was filed.”
The South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy released the names of the officers after WSPA-TV filed a Freedom of Information request with that agency in January. Treaco Hoover, one of the officers who was fired, tells 7 On Your Side, since the names are already out there, he thinks the Seneca Police Department should release the rest of the story. Hoover says, “I think they (Seneca Police Department) should have put what each officer's accused of because of confusion. If everybody doesn't know...they're going to make their own assumptions."
As 7 On Your Side has reported before, all three of the former officers maintain their innocence.
The city attorney said in court Monday that the former officers signed written requests that information not be released involving the sexual harassment allegations. Smith said releasing the information without a court order could lead to a lawsuit from the former officers.
Judge Cordell Maddox says he will make a ruling by Thursday. 7 On Your Side will keep you posted.
Updated: March 5, 2012 at 4:31 p.m.
Judge Cordell Maddox did not rule on the lawsuit filed by WSPA-TV against the Seneca Police Department Monday.
He says he will rule by Thursday and we'll keep you updated on the outcome.
Updated: March 5, 2012 at 12:30 p.m.
Judge Cordell Maddox is set to hear arguments Monday involving a lawsuit filed by WSPA-TV against the Seneca Police Department. Attorneys for WSPA-TV say the Seneca Police Department withheld information from the public when it refused to release the names of police officers involved in sexual harassment allegations and the specific allegations against each officer. Two police officers were fired, one says he was forced to resign, and another was demoted surrounding the allegations. Seneca Police Chief John Covington says, "We believe the release of information concerning former employees is not a matter of legitimate public or general interest and would constitute an unreasonable invasion of personal privacy."
Updated: January 23, 2012
7 On Your Side is learning new details about former officers involved in sexual harassment claims at the Seneca Police Department. According to South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy records, two officers were fired and one officer resigned. The Seneca Police Department had previously released information that another officer, Dean Awalt, was demoted, but is still employed with the Seneca Police Department following a complaint filed last month.
Exactly which former officers are accused of doing what at the Seneca Police Department remains a secret, as their names are still being withheld in a sexual harassment complaint filed in December by a female employee. But three former Seneca officers called 7 On Your Side Monday. All of those officers are claiming they are innocent.
According to records from the Criminal Justice Academy, Rory Jones resigned and Treaco Hoover and Jesse Harris, Jr. were fired last month.
7 On Your Side found out Harris has a new job. He's now a police officer in Williamston. The police chief says Harris employment is temporary, part-time, and that he is filling in for an officer who is on military leave. 7 On Your Side wants to know why Harris was hired in Williamston... after he was fired in Seneca? Williamston Police Chief Jay Grubbs says, “We vetted him and the same thing we do, we're consistent with all of our background information and investigations we have for all officers.”
Grubbs says Harris told him about the sexual harassment allegation. Harris told 7 On Your Side about it too. He says the female employee claimed Harris made an inappropriate comment in the dispatch center more than six months ago. Harris denies the claim and says there is no documentation to prove this. In fact, he says it's not even mentioned in the employee's complaint filed in December.
Reporter Robin Kanady asked Grubbs, “What would you say to folks who know about these allegations of sexual harassment, and they're concerned that this could happen at the Williamston Police Department?” Grubbs responded, “It's just that. It was an allegation. Allegations are unproven. He is again a valued employee with us. Every information that we had did not identify any validity to those charges, so that's why he was hired with the police department.”
Grubbs says he did a criminal background check on Harris, looked into his records with the Criminal Justice Academy, and he talked to officers who worked with him at the Seneca Police Department.
Another former Seneca officer says the situation in Seneca has made it difficult for him to find work. He says after a prospective employer spoke with the Seneca Police, he did not get job for which he applied
According to Criminal Justice Academy records, the female employee who made the sexual harassment allegations at the Seneca Police Department passed a polygraph. Records state results for a polygraph on Hoover and Jones were inconclusive, and Harris’ polygraph had to be stopped because of “excessive movement.” Records state that Harris told the examiner he was physically unable to comply with the polygraph because of a previous injury.
Updated: January 21, 2012
New details have emerged about a sexual harassment complaint involving an Upstate police department.
Published reports now identify the three former officers involved in the investigation.
According to the Seneca Journal, the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy released personnel records that show Rory Jones, Treaco Hoover and Jessie Harris Jr. were dismissed after a female officer filed a written complaint in December saying her co-workers made unwanted sexual advances toward her.
Another officer, Dean Awalt, was demoted.
The department itself still refuses to release the names or any information regarding this case.
7 On Your Side has filed a lawsuit against the city of Seneca, the police department, and its chief for withholding information we believe they are legally required to release.
Updated: January 13, 2012
WSPA Television has filed a suit against the city of Seneca, the police department and its chief for withholding information we believe you have the right to know.
The information surrounds a sexual harassment complaint a female employee in December saying some male co-workers made unwanted sexual advances towards her.
Police Chief John Covington will only tell us that "several" officers left the department after these allegations were brought forth and that one officer, Dean Awalt, was demoted from captain to corporal.
The department refuses to release the names of the former employees, whether or not they were fired or resigned, and the specific individual allegations against the former officers.
Attorneys for 7 On Your Side say this information is clearly public information, and South Carolina's leading expert on Freedom of Information issues agrees.
We will continue to push for answers and will keep you posted about the outcome of this suit.
Posted: January 10, 2012
Late Tuesday afternoon, an attorney for the Seneca Police Department told 7 On Your Side at this point, it does not appear that they will release new information about a story we first told you about Monday regarding allegations of sexual harassment at the Seneca Police Department.
A female employee filed a complaint in December saying some of her male co-workers had made unwanted sexual advances towards her, saying they left her feeling uncomfortable.
The female employee’s complaint letter was provided to WSPA through a Freedom of Information Request. The names of the former employees were blacked out, and no specific information was given to WSPA regarding the complaints involving each individual former officer. In the complaint letter, written in December 2011 to the Seneca Police Department, the female employee says, in part, “I feel that I can't even come to my work place off duty anymore because there is always someone that is going to look at me in a sexual manner instead of as a co-worker.”
The Seneca Police Department will only tell us that several officers left the department after these allegations were brought forth and that one officer, Dean Awalt, was demoted from captain to corporal.
However, the department refuses to release the names of the former employees whether or not they were fired or resigned, and the specific, individual allegations against them.
Police Chief John Covington says, "We believe the release of information concerning former employees is not a matter of legitimate public or general interest and would constitute an unreasonable invasion of personal privacy."
WSPA TV's attorneys say the city of Seneca has decided to withhold information from the public that the law states is clearly public information and spend taxpayer dollars to fight a lawsuit and keep that information secret.
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