CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio — Acting Deputy Chief Jon Farrelly is the latest Circleville Police Department officer to become entangled in scandal.
Farrelly was placed on administrative leave on Aug. 12 as part of an ongoing investigation after the department took a complaint from a citizen.
10TV obtained the complaint that triggered the investigation.
In early August, a female gas station market employee told officers Farrelly had tried to have sex with her while he was working. She said he pulled up to her house in his police car, according to the complaint. She also alleged Farrelly sent her inappropriate pictures and confronted her at a bar to make her delete them.
She only had one remaining message on her phone that she showed officers, according to the complaint.
The officers who took the information recommended Farrelly be investigated. An outside agency is now looking into the allegations.
Mayor Michelle Blanton has not accepted requests from 10TV for an interview since former Chief Shawn Baer and former Deputy Chief Doug Davis resigned amid investigations into misconduct earlier this year. Steve Wilkinson was also fired as safety director three days into his role.
“I’d like to see more transparency. I’d like to see more communication. I think that the community wants to see her face and hear her words rather than read a media release,” said City Council Member Zack Brooks.
Brooks is worried about community trust in the department, especially as the city looks to pass a public safety levy.
“It is just unsettling. It obviously brings a lot of distrust and uncertainty back into our police circles right at a time when we were getting things cleaned up and seemed to be at a place of normalcy. It just kind of throws everything back into that whirlwind,” he said.
At a City Council meeting this week, members voted to bring on a consultant to do an independent analysis of the police department.
The mayor also introduced the city's new public safety director, Rob Ware.