Image Credit: Johnson City Police Dept / Facebook & @TBInvestigation / X
The Tennessee Conservative [By Kelly M. Jackson] –
Accusations of bribery and conspiracy are at the center of a newly filed lawsuit against the Johnson City Police Department and its former leadership.
Allegations concern rape and drug charges against former Johnson City businessman Sean Williams stating that he paid off members of the department in exchange for protection from criminal charges.
According to reports, the lawsuit filed last week alleges that the officers engaged in “corrupt use of search warrants and other unlawful collection efforts” to get money from Williams.
At the center of the conspiracy, according to the lawsuit, is JCPD Detective Toma Sparks, who allegedly received money from Williams former business, Glass and Concrete Contracting LLC.
Additionally, it is also alleged that money seized in a raid of Williams’ Johnson City condo, was retained by the officers and only a portion actually made it into the evidence storage area of JCPD.
The amount enumerated in the lawsuit is said to be a portion of the $500,000 found in the safe in Williams condo. What was actually logged into evidence was just over $81,000.00.
The lawsuit indicates that the money was paid “with the implied or explicit understanding that Defendants would shield Williams, permitting him to continue his practice of abuse and trafficking with impunity in exchange for the payments.”
The lawsuit alleges that Williams paid officers involved in the alleged conspiracy payments of $2,000 a week, and this was on top of the money from the safe that was seized during a September 2020 search. A search, which included the safe where the money was known to have been kept.
Williams, 52, is accused of multiple federal and state charges of child rape, and child pornography.
When Williams was arrested in April of this year after nearly 2 years on the lam, he was found to be in possession of digital files that depicted Williams raping more than 50 unconscious women. 10 of the women in the file were identified as women who had reported being raped by Williams to JCPD, who in response to the reports, never followed up with any substantive investigation.
Former federal prosecutor Kat Dahl who had been contracted with the JCPD to assist in gun and drug cases that could reach a federal level, was made aware of the additional evidence of possible multiple sexual assaults by Williams, and according to her had urged the department to investigate, the suit alleges, on more than 30 occasions.
Her insistence was met with complacency and apathy on the part of then JCPD Chief of Police, Karl Turner. Dahl went to the FBI with her concerns of the sexual assaults being overlooked by JCPD and found herself unemployed within 3 weeks’ time.
Dahl alleges that the firing was retaliatory because she pressed Turner and JCPD to pursue what appeared to her to be mounting evidence of repeated sexual assaults.
Reports indicate that lawyers representing 10 alleged anonymous victims filed a motion on December 12th to amend the lawsuit they filed previously, which is separate from that of Kat Dahl’s. It is seeking to collect damages from JCPD for inaction concerning reports of sexual assault.
The lawsuit, characterized as a class action, filed on behalf of the 10 alleged victims filed a request for an amendment that if granted, will add three more investigators, Justin Jenkins, Jeff LeGault and Brady Higgins, and includes 13 more unnamed officers as defendants.
The suit also includes victims of sexual assaults not perpetrated by Williams, but assaults nonetheless that were alleged to have been ignored by JCPD, due to what has been called an apathetic department culture when it comes to how sexual crimes are received and investigated.
The suit claims that for an unspecified period of time that continued until at least this past April, officers conspired with Williams in his alleged venture: to recruit, harbor, provide, obtain, maintain and solicit women and children … for the purpose of engaging in commercial sex acts.”
A defense filing on behalf of the defense claims there are no “factually, nonconclusory allegations” establishing that JCPD seized assets from Williams “pursuant to a common scheme” with him.
This is not a defense for having received the property and the money, but rather that the property and money seized do not equate to “a common scheme” because the officers in question couldn’t have known the evidence would eventually also be part of a sex trafficking case when they seized it.
Both civil suits are on-going, and the perpetrator is in federal custody after having escaped local custody on at least 2 occasions.
About the Author: Kelly Jackson is a recent escapee from corporate America, and a California refugee to Tennessee. Christ follower, Wife and Mom of three amazing teenagers. She has a BA in Comm from Point Loma Nazarene University, and has a background in law enforcement and human resources. Since the summer of 2020, she has spent any and all free time in the trenches with local grassroots orgs, including Mom’s for Liberty Williamson County and Tennessee Stands as a core member. Outspoken advocate for parents rights, medical freedom, and individual liberty. Kelly can be reached at kelly@tennesseeconservativenews.com.