“To actively solicit that relationship is unforgivable and put your entire Department and the Town of Mars Hill at risk. To have attempted that relationship showed great lack of judgement, and could have resulted in a situation where you would have been publicly embarrassed and embarrassed this Town.”
When commenting on the termination, Bennett said, “There was never a picture shared, but he asked two different times.”
The town manager also confirmed that Wilson approached him with screenshot evidence after the ex-chief sought the photos via SnapChat, Citizen Times reported.
“The next day, I called Jon up here to suspend him pending an investigation, and I present him those things, and he admits to me, ‘Yes, I sent those,’” Bennett said.
Wilson did not wish to comment on the personal matter.
On the day the article was originally published, Jan. 8, Clark was employed by the Madison County Sheriff’s Office, where he served as a school resource officer at Madison Early College High School, according to the Citizen Times.
However, there was fallout once the information was released to the public. Shortly after 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 8, Madison County Schools Superintendent Will Hoffman said Clark was no longer serving as an SRO at the school system.
Hoffman also wanted to offer clarification that Clark is not an employee of the school system.
“We appreciate the relationship we have with the Madison County Sheriff’s Department, and we are fortunate to have SROs in each of our schools,” Hoffman told The News-Record in an email.
“Our SROs are employees of the Sheriff’s Department or their respective law enforcement agencies, SROs are not school system employees. It is up to the Sheriff to hire and assign school resource officers at our schools, as well as conduct any background check prior to hiring,” Hoffman noted.
It is unclear whether Clark remains employed by the Madison County Sheriff’s Office since media calls to Sheriff Buddy Harwood went unanswered.
Source: www.lawofficer.com