The Holly Hill Police Department leadership “fostered an atmosphere of sexual innuendos, objectifying women and sexually explicit horseplay,” according to an internal affairs report released Friday.
Former Police Chief Jeff Miller requested the Volusia Sheriff’s Office conduct the internal affairs investigation; he then resigned March 15.
Capt. Chris Yates, Sgt. Shannon Fountain and Sgt. Tom Bentley were all suspended with pay during the investigation.
Yates resigned May 23.
Bentley has returned to duty but his disciplinary action is going through the legal process, Forte has said.
The female officer’s name has been redacted from the report. Fountain was her immediate supervisor.
During interviews with current and former employees, an evidence technician, a sergeant and a former police officer made allegations of harassment and “sexual activity” from the command staff, including Yates, Bentley and Miller, while they were on duty.
Miller and Yates refused to participate in interviews.
The investigation found “overwhelming evidence of inappropriate messages between Sergeant Fountain and the officer.”
“Fountain confirmed that he sent the inappropriate messages and that his behavior was inexcusable,” the report stated.
Fountain said he “flirted” with the officer even though that was inappropriate given he was her supervisor.
Fountain “admitted his failures and shortcomings,” but he said the city had failed to train, mentor and develop proper leaders.
Fountain said he thought his behavior was “ultimately acceptable due to the environment created by the command staff” at the police department.
“This environment fostered an atmosphere of sexual innuendos, objectifying women, and sexually explicit horseplay,” the report stated.
The female officer’s complaints about Bentley “mostly stemmed from comments made between Sergeant Bentley and an investigator.” There was no physical evidence of allegations that Bentley made offensive statements and Bentley denied making any.
Witnesses provided several sworn statements saying they either saw or heard several police department members comment about the officer’s physical appearance. The comments were made by Bentley, Yates and Investigator Michael Ballentine, who was not a subject of the investigation, but was suspended without pay Friday for an unrelated incident.
Report: ‘Intolerable acts of sexual abuse’ at Holly Hill PD
People interviewed described an “inner circle” of Miller, Yates and Bentley at the department. The “inner circle” was responsible for “intolerable acts of sexual abuse, physical abuse, and emotional exploitation and created a hostile work environment,” the report stated.
For example, Yates unsnapped a woman’s bra, the report said, and he would discuss women’s physical appearance by asking if “Officer (redacted) breasts were real.”
Miller admitted to some sexual misconduct during an interview with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement but denied more egregious allegations.
Miller downplayed his actions and tried blaming the women. Miller “was blind to his authority and how that played a major role in these incidents.”
Miller “confessed to groping several women in the form of tickling them,” the report stated. Miller said it was “acceptable because they also reciprocated it.”
Miller admitted to asking to see his subordinate’s breasts. He tried excusing it by saying he made the request “in a joking manner.”
Bentley denied recalling any inappropriate incident except for a minor incident that was not mentioned by the main complainants. Bentley’s response was concerning because witnesses said he was present for a large volume of incidents, the report stated.
According to the report “… of far greater concern, at no point did Sergeant Bentley stop inappropriate comments, jokes or sexual innuendos.” It appears unreasonable that Bentley would be unaware of the actions of Miller and Yates, as all three were close.
The report continued: “… it appears that Sergeant Bentley was complicit with the deplorable actions of those in charge,” the report stated.
After reviewing the evidence, “which included a multitude of salacious acts of a sexual nature that he either participated or condoned,” Yates chose to resign instead of participate in the interview, the report stated. That decision lent credibility to the allegations against him, suggesting he feared facing the consequences.
Most if not all employees were unaware of any recent training about sexual harassment or a hostile work environment.
The leaders of the department, Miller, Yates and Bentley, “allowed an environment where inappropriate behavior, including sexual misconduct, occurred,” the report stated.
The environment existed before Miller was appointed chief of police, and the issues were never “addressed sufficiently.”
Reports of misconduct were not effectively acted upon, “contributing to an uncomfortable and hostile workplace for women.”
City Manager Joe Forte wrote that he was “profoundly dismayed by the testimonies and accusations.”
“The actions of the Chief, Captain and Sergeant seem antithetical to the very principles they are tasked with upholding and enforcing within our community.”
He said the process of restoration begins with the hiring of the new police chief and a new captain. Forte announced this week that Daytona Beach Police Captain Byron K. Williams had been hired to become the new police chief and would start July 15.
Additional allegations in the Holly Hill Police Department investigation
On Feb. 28, an investigator interviewed an officer whose name is redacted. The officer said Fountain was her direct supervisor. She said in the summer of 2022, Fountain added her on the social media platform Snapchat. She could not provide those messages because they were private and disappeared after reading them. But she said Fountain eventually started messaging her on her personal cellphone. She said on May 28, 2022, Fountain took a picture of her backside and texted it to her, which made her feel uncomfortable.
On July 5, 2022, she went to a bar with another officer and they ran into Fountain. The two went to a different bar but Fountain followed them. She said while the other officer was in the bathroom, Fountain came up behind her grabbed her waist and pulled her back into his groin. Fountain then began asking her for pictures of herself.
She said that in the summer of 2022, Fountain sent her a Snapchat photo of himself with a small cloth covering his genitals.
On July 5, 2022, Fountain told her about a conversation between Fountain, Bentley and Yates in which they talked about whether she was going out of state get breast enhancement surgery due to all the recent overtime she had been working.
On Sept. 19, 2022, she said that on the second day of her attending a speed measurement class at Daytona State College Advance Technology Center, two members of the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office approached her. They said Fountain told them “to ask me about how big my penis is.” She said he told them to ask the first day but they felt it was inappropriate. Fountain texted her “enjoy class chickie I may miss you” and “I liked you better when I liked you” and “I played around flirted at best.”
On Oct. 16, 2022, she texted an investigator whose name is redacted that she wished Fountain would stop while on duty and off duty. She also said she felt that if she said something he would target her even more.
At the end of her shift on Oct. 18, 2022, she and some other officers were talking about an incident during the shift when she was battered. An officer said about her being hit that she “took it like a champ.” She said Fountain then stated, “That’s what her boyfriend says” implying a sexual reference which made her uncomfortable.
In October 2022, she told Fountain she did not feel comfortable on the probable cause for a search of a female during a traffic stop. She said Fountain told her later “that he felt I was slacking lately and I needed to get laid or take the tampon out of my ass.”
In October 2022, Fountain sent her a message on Snapchat in which he said “get any good (expletive) this weekend so you can stop being a pain in the ass.”
In November 2022, Fountain told her she needed to put her lips to good use. She responded she was sick. She said Fountain told her it was because she had been kissing dirty boys and had had “dirty (expletive)” in her mouth.
She also said that Fountain would micromanage her but not other officers.
On Feb. 5, 2023, an officer told her he heard Yates comment in front of Ballentine about an outfit she wore to the police department on her day off to turn in an estimate for an approval for a rifle.
On Feb. 6, 2023, Fountain sent her a text which read “No (slur) your ass is dirty,” and then sent her a picture of a stuffed animal with an erect penis.
On March 9, 2023, she was working an off-duty detail when Fountain and his fiancé came by. Later he sent her an Instagram message stating “It was weird having my fiancé and my work crush there at the same place.” He then deleted the message.
On April 3, 2023, she was called into Yates’ office and was told the pink handcuffs she was using were degrading to men.
On May 16, 2023, Fountain said during a briefing with her and two other officers present that she seemed miserable but she should be “happy due to all the new wiener” she was getting, referring to a relationship with an investigator.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Holly Hill PD report reveals sexual harassment, toxic work environment
Signup bonus from
