In one incident, Ocala Police Chief Greg Graham forced a female cop’s head into his lap while drinking with other subordinates.
In another, he told a female subordinate he’d like to see her date his daughter.
Bobi Frank, the attorney who filed a grievance on behalf of three Florida cops, said her clients feel “terrible, horrified and horrible” because the police chief they accused of sexually harassing them at a fallen officer’s funeral is still their boss.
Now the mayor refuses to suspend the chief until the investigation is completed, even though several witnesses saw the incidents, which happened on and off-duty.
“He needs to be, at minimum, reassigned during this investigation,” said Frank, who filed the grievance on behalf of Ocala officers Rachel Mangum, Casey Walsh and Tony J. Watts.
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Ocalapost reported about part of the complaint regarding the abuse of Casey Walsh.
“While attending the National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington, DC a small group of officers went to a bar during evening hours. Chief Graham joined the group and consumed alcohol with his subordinates. During the course of the evening, his behavior became increasingly inappropriate.”
The group later went to another location and Chief Graham instigated playing a game with his subordinates called “never have I ever.”
The chief began joking with female subordinates about “getting fucked in the ass,” and “sucking dick”, according to the complaint, while playing the game.
He also told them he wanted to know who had “the best tits at the table.”
At one point, officer Walsh’s girlfriend called. Chief Graham took over her phone and began talking to her.
After she got off the phone with chief Graham, she told officer Walsh she never wanted the chief to “talk to her like that again.”
Another statement from the complaint reads:
“At the Fallen Officer Memorial ceremony in Ocala, Officer Walsh was approached by Mrs. Graham, the Chief’s wife. Chief Graham walked up to the women during their conversation. Mrs. Graham was expressing interest in doing a ride along with Officer Walsh, but Chief Graham quickly interjected and implied that Officer Walsh would be likely to act in an unprofessional way with Mrs. Graham in her vehicle by engaging in intimate behavior together.”
A few days after that, he commented that he would love if officer Walsh would date his daughter, but would be afraid if she came to their house she might end up having sex with his wife, too.
Officer Rachel Mangum asserted in the same complaint that when she came back from the restroom to the group playing the game, Chief Graham shouted while pointing at her,
never have I ever had a cock shoved in my ass!”
At the same time, the complaint states, Chief Graham was incessantly asking for Sgt. Casey Eades’ personal cell phone number, and repeatedly trying to crack her phone’s password, telling her “let me see your titty pics.”
Graham later took Sgt. Eades’ head and forced it into his lap, simulating the action of oral sex.
The complaint further alleges Graham has engaged in inappropriate relationships with female subordinates, particularly Sgt. Eades.
“It is a commonly held belief, for various reasons, that Chief Graham is engaging in sexual relations with his subordinate officer, Sgt. Casey Eades.”
“This document reflects a mere fraction of the incidents that have occurred under Chief Graham’s direction, influence, insistence, and upon his own action. A thorough investigation, conducted by an unbiased, independent third-party will substantiate all of these assertions, and more,” the complaint concludes.
A Mayor Defends his Police Chief
“He’s my friend,” Ocala Mayor Kent Quinn told media during a press conference.
Quinn said Robert Larkin, of the law firm Allen Norton & Blue in Tallahassee were hired to investigate the matter into Chief Graham.
Quinn said he picked the firm because they’ve resolved issues involving personnel in the past.
Mayor Quinn stated, “On Sept. 15, we received a formal grievance against police Chief Greg Graham on the grounds of sexual harassment, hostile treatment, retaliation and discrimination.”
During a news conference, Quinn stated the complaint references the claims of three Ocala police officers about events that happened at a fallen officer’s funeral about five months ago.
In spite of the allegations by three separate people, Mayor Quinn stands by his police chief.
“People love him,” he said.
“I stand behind Greg Graham. We’re going to do this investigation and move on from there,” insisted Quinn.
“Am I concerned? No,” he said.
“I trust the Chief and now we are simply verifying the allegations,” Guinn said, “and that’s the reason I did not put him on administrative leave or suspend him, because it would give validity to those allegations and I’m not going to give validity to those allegations.”
Two out of three complaining officers said Graham had them investigated by internal affairs as retaliation.
Another cop is claiming racial discrimination, according to Fox35Orlando.com.
Frank encouraged residents of Ocala to become active and to contact the mayor, city and state representatives for an independent, third-party investigation.
“Only you can stop this reign of corruption and terror,” she said. “Do you expect the witnesses to tell the truth when they have to come in everyday when he’s still in charge?”
“It doesn’t pass the smell test.”
Below the Mayor defends his decision to stay the course with the chief accused of abusing his subordinates in press conference record by wutv.org.
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