Gene Myers
The emblem of the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office is seen at the Hamilton County-Chattanooga Courts Building.A Hamilton County sheriff's deputy resigned days after a 27-year-old college student accused him of sexually harassing her while she was job shadowing him, records show.
The student, who will not be identified in this story, told authorities that Deputy Gene Myers described sexual acts he wanted to perform on her while she was in his patrol car for a 12-hour ride-along on Oct. 25.
At one point during the ride-along, the woman secretly recorded Myers asking to touch her breasts, according to a transcript included in an internal affairs file.
"Can I touch them?" he asks on the recording.
"Touch my what? My nipple? No." the woman replies.
"Can't I just feel of them?" he asks again.
"No," she says.
"Just [inaudible]," he replied.
"No, oh my gosh, no," she said.
The woman then told Myers he was making her nervous and Myers said he was just messing around.
The deputy resigned on Nov. 7, about a month before internal affairs investigators decided there was enough evidence to sustain one count of unbecoming conduct against him. The Times Free Press on Friday obtained a copy of the final internal affairs report. Myers had worked for the sheriff's office since 2002.
When reached by phone Monday, Myers said his resignation had nothing to do with the allegations against him. He said he resigned to build his own business, a move he'd been talking about for years. He also said the internal affairs report didn't include the full details of the incident.
"I know what she said and I know what happened," he said. "And she knows what happened, too."
Before he resigned, Myers told internal affairs investigators he and the woman had bantered about sexual activity throughout the shift, and he claimed she initiated the conversation. But Sheriff Jim Hammond said he does not doubt the woman's account.
"I have no reason to believe this young lady did anything wrong," he said. "She was the victim from the beginning."
He added that even if the woman had willingly participated in the sexual conversation, which she denies, it would still be prohibited by policy.
The woman told investigators she tried to ignore or laugh off the sexual comments at first, but couldn't ignore Myers when he parked on a dead end street, turned up the radio and described kissing different parts of her body.
"He was like, 'I'm going to kiss down your stomach and your thighs,' and he just kept going," she said. "And I'm just, not paying him any attention. My body language was so definitely like, 'Bro, I'm not feeling none of this,' but he just kept going."
She thinks he would have acted on his words immediately, while in the patrol car, had she consented. But she instead said no multiple times, according to the report. Myers also brushed his hand against her leg at various times during the ride-along, but said he was just adjusting his computer, according to the report.
The woman hesitated to report the incident at first because she hopes to one day join the sheriff's office as a deputy. She was excited to do the ride-along as part of her criminal justice degree, she said, but left disappointed by Myers' behavior.
"'Cause he was supposed to be my mentor," she said. "You know, I started off asking questions, like, 'How long have you done this?' 'Have you ever been in a hostage situation?' You know what I mean? I was just asking questions. I ain't never gave not one impression."
She declined to comment when reached by phone Monday. Hammond said Myers' behavior was completely unacceptable.
"I want to assure the public and our interns that nothing like that will be tolerated while I'm sheriff," he said.
Contact staff writer Shelly Bradbury at 423-757-6525 or sbradbury@timesfreepress.com with tip or story ideas. Follow her on Twitter @ShellyBradbury.