Federal judge sets deadline for Hamilton County Deputy Daniel Wilkey, others to respond to civil suit alleging groping of minors

A federal judge has set a deadline for Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Daniel Wilkey and his co-defendants to respond to the federal civil suit filed by one of the minors who was in a vehicle stopped by Wilkey and then allegedly groped by him.

Wilkey, 26, has been at the center of a criminal investigation and 11 civil lawsuits, including one alleging the wrongful death of a Rhea County man, over the course of his six-year career in law enforcement. He was arrested earlier this month after being indicted on 44 criminal charges, including six counts of sexual battery, two counts of rape and nine counts of official oppression. His bond was set at $25,000, and he was released within about an hour.

Most of the civil suits Wilkey faces involve traffic stops, during which he is accused of engaging in several instances of alleged misconduct, including the groping, illegal drug searches, a forced baptism and an apparent roadside body cavity search that was captured by dash camera footage.

On Dec. 20, just over an hour after appearing in Hamilton County Criminal Court for an arraignment that was postponed, his attorney Micah Guster appeared in federal court on Wilkey’s behalf to argue his case for why the civil suit should be put on hold while the criminal case is pending in order to protect Wilkey’s constitutional right against self-incrimination.

The suit involving the minors alleges Wilkey groped five underage girls under the pretext of a drug search while ordering a boy to strip off his clothes during a traffic stop on April 21.

Each girl has filed a civil suit, and they’re expected to be consolidated once each has been transferred to federal court. The suits also name another deputy, Tyler McRae, for allegedly not stopping or reporting Wilkey to supervisors, and the county itself for allegedly creating a culture that discouraged reporting misconduct.

Wilkey is not currently facing criminal charges in the incident involving the minors, and U.S. Magistrate Judge Christopher Steger took note of that in his order partially granting the request for more time to respond and denying the request to halt the suit altogether.

Guster argued on Dec. 20 that the civil case should be put on hold because, if Wilkey responds in an attempt to defend himself, it could jeopardize his defense in the criminal case. And if he asserts his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent, it would hurt him in the civil case.

While juries in criminal cases aren’t allowed to consider a defendant’s failure to testify as evidence of guilt, juries in civil cases are permitted to draw their own conclusions based on a defendant’s refusal to testify.

But that argument didn’t persuade the court.

“Can you see the irony in this?” Steger asked Guster at the time.

The alleged searches took place hastily on the side of the road, he noted, rather than taking the children to a detention center where the search could take place in a controlled and private environment. And Wilkey apparently ignored their constitutional rights.

But now, “[Wilkey] wants to slow walk the civil suits,” Steger said.

“I think he has options for how to deal with this in the civil case,” he added, again noting Wilkey could choose to not answer any questions.

In his order issued on Monday, Steger wrote, “[T]he Court must consider the rights of the Plaintiff in this case to prosecute her lawsuit against Defendant Wilkey, as well as the stated purpose of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ‘to secure the just, speedy and inexpensive determination of ever action proceeding.'”

He did acknowledge that a brief extension of time would be appropriate for the county and McRae to respond, noting that McRae’s attorney, Gerald Tidwell, hadn’t been on the case very long. He was assigned to represent McRae on Dec. 16.

Steger set the new deadline for Jan. 15.

Wilkey has been on paid administrative leave since July and will remain so pending his disciplinary hearing, which is set for Dec. 30, according to the sheriff’s office. His annual salary is $41,483. That is approximately $19.94 per hour.

Most of Wilkey’s alleged criminal offenses took place within a seven-month time frame, and they involved four different victims, according to the indictment.

The case gained attention after Hamilton County District Attorney General Neal Pinkston released dash camera footage of Wilkey and another deputy, Bobby Brewer, kicking, punching and stripping the pants off a handcuffed black man on July 10 before performing an alleged body cavity search on the side of a Soddy-Daisy road.

The case was referred to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which has since finished its investigation into both Wilkey and Brewer. That investigation, in part, led to the indictment against Wilkey. Brewer has not been criminally charged, though the case remains open, according to the TBI.

Brewer, McRae, and a third deputy, Jacob Goforth, have been named in some of the civil suits alleging they stood by and watched Wilkey reportedly violate citizens’ rights. None of them face criminal charges at this time.

McRae and Goforth remain on active duty, and Brewer has been assigned to clerical duties while he is under internal and criminal investigation. All three deputies make $42,676 per year.

Contact Rosana Hughes at rhughes@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6327 with tips or story ideas. Follow her on Twitter @HughesRosana.