Timeline of Cleveland sex scandals
* Aug. 19: Sgt. Eddie Bonnett was placed on administrative leave after a female officer complained to her supervisor that Bonnett, her shift sergeant, texted an “inappropriate” photo from his personal cellphone to hers.* Aug. 7: Officers Carlton Walls and Chad Nave are placed on administrative leave to investigate allegations of extramarital sex and a woman’s accusation that she was sexually assaulted July 31 at a rented cabin in Gatlinburg.* June: Lt. Steve Tyson and Officer Jeffrey Griggs’ demotions and reassignments upheld for policy violations related to investigation of ex-Chief Dennis Maddux’s affair with Griggs’ wife.* May: Maddux submits retirement letter after internal affairs investigators said he lied about the relationship and events involving Cindy Griggs.* February: Officer Jeff Griggs finds his wife and Maddox trysting in a car across the county line in Calhoun, Tenn.* January 2014: Longtime Chief Wes Snyder retires after surveillance video showed him meeting a woman at a warehouse storage unit fitted out with a rug, blankets and a bottle of brandy.* July 2013: Former Officer Ross Wooten is suspended and later resigns over the third allegation of sexual misconduct since he joined the department in 2004. The woman also sued him in federal court.* May 2013: Sgt. Bill Higdon is terminated for repeated policy violations two months after suggestive texts and explicit photos from him turn up on the phone of a high-dollar prostitute whose death by gunshot was ruled a suicide.* December 2011: Snyder claims there was no evidence to investigate allegations of that officers were giving pills and alcohol to teenage girls and having sex with them before one officer shot and wounded another in December 2008. An investigation led to the imprisonment of Officers Dennis Hughes and Nathan Thomas on charges of having sex with 14- and 16-year-old girls.
Another employee of the City of Cleveland, Tenn., is in the spotlight after his arrest this weekend.
Cleveland firefighter Cody Vaughn was arrested early Sunday morning and charged with public intoxication and providing or enticing a female minor to consume alcohol.
The 22-year-old pleaded not guilty Tuesday to the charges in Bradley County General Sessions Court. A hearing is set in the case for Sept. 24.
City Manager Janice Casteel said he will remain on duty until an internal investigation is concluded.
Mayor Tom Rowland and Cleveland's fire Chief Ron Harrison did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
Tenth Judicial District Attorney Steve Crump said his office will treat Vaughn's case the same as any other.
"We will get to the bottom of it," Crump said. "We will figure out what the truth is, the best we can determine, and proceed accordingly."
On the night of Vaughn's arrest, Bradley County sheriff's deputies Eduardo Choate and Paul Singleton arrived at 1975 31st St. around 12:30 a.m. after receiving a report of a prowler who had crashed an ATV on the property, according to the arrest affidavit.
The deputies recorded how they smelled alcohol on Vaughn and that his speech was slurred as he told them about flipping his ATV.
The resident who called to report Vaughn said he heard a female voice and watched her run away from the scene as he approached. Initially, Vaughn told authorities that he was alone, but eventually admitted a woman was with him and she ran away as the resident said, according to the affidavit.
Contributed photo of Cody Vaughn"[Vaughn] could not provide her name or age only that she was wearing dark clothing and had blonde hair," the affidavit states.
The woman, who identified herself as Haley Truelove, later returned to the scene. She also appeared to be intoxicated, according to the deputies. They said when they asked her age, she told the deputies she was 20.
"[Truelove] began telling me that she did not want to be involved in any kind of drama or situation and began crying," Choate wrote in the affidavit.
Truelove was arrested on charges of underage drinking.
Vaughn's arrest follows in the wake of a slew of other city of Cleveland employees who have resigned, been fired or were demoted due to unlawful and unprofessional behavior. For years, the Cleveland Police Department has produced a series of tabloid-worthy sex scandals.
City Councilman Richard Banks said in August that he is tired of the "unacceptable behavior" of city police officers and concerned about the officers' transgressions continuing to be "plastered on the front page of the paper."
Banks said Tuesday that he could not comment on Vaughn's case, as he had just become aware of it and did not have many details. The six other Cleveland city councilmen also did not comment Tuesday.
Contact staff writer Kendi Anderson at kendi.anderson@timesfree press.com or 423-757-6592.