Tulsa police officer who had sex on duty is demoted, transferred
BY JERRY WOFFORD World Staff Writer
Saturday, October 20, 2012
10/20/12 at 7:55 AM
Tulsa police have demoted an officer for engaging in sexual behavior while in uniform and on duty in 2008.
Officer Shawn King was demoted from captain and transferred to the Training Division from the Information Services Division after a pretermination hearing, according to a personnel order written Thursday by Police Chief Chuck Jordan.
The Thursday hearing found that King violated the department's rule on conduct unbecoming an officer three times.
The rule states that employees will not act in any way that would "bring reproach or discredit upon the department."
The first violation involved King's engaging in "inappropriate sexual behavior while on-duty, in your police uniform, in your office at Gilcrease Division in 2008," according to the order.
The second involved inappropriate sexual behavior under the same circumstances but also King's having sent with his personal cellphone a photograph of the activity to another department employee.
The last violation was for "causing embarrassment to the department" when reports about the sexual behavior began to appear in the local publication This Land Press and other news organizations.
King was suspended in April for a 2009 incident during which he "engaged in sexual activity while on-duty, in your patrol unit, in an area near the Tulsa Zoo," according to a personnel order outlining that policy violation in April.
King was suspended without pay for 40 hours, according to the order.
In May, a former girlfriend of King's filed a protective order against him and claimed that he had engaged in a sex act with one of her children, who was a minor at the time.
That order was dismissed later that month after a criminal investigation was opened by the Osage County Sheriff's Office and Osage County District Attorney's Office.
The Sheriff's Office submitted its findings to the District Attorney's Office, which said in August that it would not file any charges at that time.
"We simply don't have enough (evidence), so we decided to announce it as a 'decline to file' as we continue to investigate," First Assistant District Attorney Mike Fisher said then.
No charges had been filed against King as of Friday.
Officer Leland Ashley said King remains on paid administrative leave.
King has worked for the Tulsa Police Department since 1997, according to city of Tulsa personnel records. He received his last promotion in 2008, records state.
Records also show that King received an annual salary of $84,702 as of February. It was unclear Friday what affect the demotion would have on his salary.
Original Print Headline: Cop demoted for on-duty sex
Jerry Wofford 918-581-8310
jerry.wofford@tulsaworld.com
