Franklin County Sheriff Jim Karnes said Thursday that recruits were forced to play games of
leap frog and Ring Around the Rosey inside of the jail, 10TV’s Maureen Kocot reported.
A surveillance camera appears to show deputies holding hands and jumping in circles while a
crowd of people watch.
SLIDESHOW:
Image From Jail Camera
At least one of the deputies was “visibly upset” afterward and fought back tears, Kocot
reported.
According to the internal affairs report, Sgt. Matthew Worthington ordered two groups of new
deputies to take part in what he called “team-building exercises,” Kocot reported.
Karnes called the actions “intolerable” and wanted to know who was watching prisoners during
the incident.
“That’s the part that’s really upsetting me,” Karnes said. “It’s a situation where they called
people to the area to view what was taking place while the officers were being humiliated. I’m not
going to tolerate that.”
Sheriff’s investigators also accused Worthington of sexual harassment, saying he had an affair
with a subordinate and was “insulting, degrading, demanding and hostile” to female deputies at the
jail.
A disciplinary hearing will likely take place next week for Worthington and two others, Cpl.
Charles David and Deputy Micky Casper, who are accused of participating in the harassment, Kocot
reported.
Karnes told 10TV News that Davis and Casper were following the order of their
supervisor.
The highest ranking of the four, Jefferey Gunn, was demoted from lieutenant to sergeant after
he was accused of trading nude photos over his cell phone with his wife while on duty, Kocot
reported.
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