Image Credit: York County Sheriff’s Office & Canva
The Tennessee Conservative Staff –
A Hamilton County sheriff’s deputy who was arrested earlier this month for sexual exploitation of a minor was terminated following a pre-disciplinary hearing on Tuesday.
25-year-old Johnathan Allen is facing charges in South Carolina for three counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of criminal solicitation of a minor. The charges stem from an alleged online relationship Allen had with a 13-year-old girl.
Police reports stated that the girl began talking with him on Reddit but then gave him her phone number. Allen began to request nude photos from the girl and also asked her to send sexual videos of herself to him.
After Allen was initially arrested on December 5, he was placed on paid leave, awaiting further investigation of the matter.
Because Allen had completed his probationary period with the department, Sheriff Austin Garrett was required to follow Civil Service guidelines, granting Allen the right to due process and a pre-disciplinary hearing.
Allen was given the required 10-day notice of that hearing while he was held in custody by the York County Sheriff’s Office in South Carolina. He opted to attend the hearing virtually from that location.
Following the hearing, Garrett told Allen, “You preyed upon a child, one of the most egregious things a person can do. You embarrassed this agency, you’ve lost the trust and embarrassed the people of this county and this office, and the men and women of the sheriff’s office who work here. You are fired effective immediately. If I could have fired you the day this was found out, I would have done it that day; however, I am mandated to give you this hearing and you’ve had it. You are fired effective immediately.”
Garrett followed this by instructing the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office Training & Professional Development Unit to submit the required paperwork to the Tennessee Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission to request that Allen be decertified as a peace officer in Tennessee.
