Former Graham
sheriff accused of
sexual misconduct
Andrews – The tumult within the Andrews Police Department is not over yet.
Two days after the Andrews Board of Aldermen voted to appoint former Graham County sheriff Joseph Jones as chief of the town’s police department, two of Jones’ former colleagues filed separate civil lawsuits against him.
The lawsuits allege a culture of lying, mishandling of evidence and improper use of confidential informants existed within the Graham County Sheriff’s Office during Jones’ tenure. One of the lawsuits also accuses Jones of unwanted sexual misconduct. Both plaintiffs allege retaliation on the part of Graham County officials for coming forward with their concerns.
“Since it’s in litigation, [the attorneys] said not to make any comment other than to say the sheriff’s office and myself have done nothing wrong,” Graham County Sheriff Jerry Crisp told the Cherokee Scout.
Jones, who served as Graham County sheriff from December 2018 through June 2020, declined to comment on the lawsuits due to the ongoing litigation. Andrews officials declined to comment as well.
Jones joined the Andrews Police Department as a rank-and-file officer in July. The town’s aldermen appointed him chief of police on Dec. 8. Jones cited personal reasons as the motivating factor for resigning as Graham County sheriff.
“Due to health issues that have further developed due to the stress related to the job, threats against my family, and the need to spend more time with my children and my precious granddaughter, I must distance myself from the position as your sheriff,” Jones wrote in his resignation letter, according to The Graham Star.
In one of the lawsuits filed against Jones, former Graham County narcotics detective Brent McMahan alleges that he became aware of illegal and improper actions within the sheriff’s office after being hired by Jones in September 2019. His lawsuit alleges that deputies engaged in sexual misconduct, mishandled evidence, improperly used confidential informants and falsified information to obtain search warrants.
The lawsuit says McMahan reported his concerns to superior officers, including Jones, but the reports were ignored. McMahan subsequently reported his concerns to the District Attorney’s Office, according to the lawsuit, which says he also agreed to take a polygraph test when he met with a State Bureau of Investigation agent.
McMahan accuses Jones of harassing him and threatening his employment after he reported the alleged misconduct to prosecutors. McMahan was later demoted from detective to road deputy, then demoted again to courthouse security.
“Plaintiff was given a written warning, suspension and demotions because of his whistleblowing actions in meeting and supplying information to District Attorney Ashley Welch, with Defendant attempting to portray the aforementioned punitive measures as resulting from a traffic stop several months prior which was not Plaintiff’s stop,” the lawsuit says.
McMahan was later fired from the Graham County Sheriff’s Office. The lawsuit alleges he was terminated after Jones learned he had agreed to take a polygraph test for the SBI. The lawsuit further alleges that Jones contacted regional law enforcement officials to prevent McMahan from obtaining employment with other agencies.
McMahan says he suffered public embarrassment, anxiety, depression, insomnia and other ailments as a result of Jones’ actions. He seeks more than $25,000 in damages.
A separate lawsuit filed by McMahan’s wife, Reba, alleges that Jones made “numerous unwanted sexual comments” and sent her “sexual text messages,” beginning about two months after she was hired as a deputy with the Graham County Sheriff’s Office in April 2019.
One text message allegedly said, “Your ass looks good in those leggings.” Reba also accuses Jones of expressing which sex acts he wanted to perform on her and telling her that he couldn’t concentrate because of her body.
“Plaintiff reasonably felt that she had to respond and allow such messages for the sake of her employment,” the lawsuit says, adding that Jones’ alleged misconduct continued through August 2019 – about one month before her husband joined the department.
The lawsuit alleges that Jones began similar conduct with another Graham County Sheriff’s Office employee, then threatened Reba after she expressed concerns about his actions to other colleagues.
Reba also raised concerns about deputies mishandling evidence, improperly using confidential informants and falsifying information to obtain search warrants. The lawsuit says she reported those concerns to her superiors, including Jones, but was ignored.
Reba then reported her concerns, including the sexual harassment and threats against her and Brent’s jobs, to Welch.
The lawsuit says Reba was terminated from the department by Crisp, one day after he took the oath of office on July 27, in retaliation for reporting alleged misconduct to her superiors and Welch. Court documents further allege that Jones contacted regional law enforcement officials to prevent her from obtaining employment with them.
Reba’s lawsuit says she suffered public embarrassment, anxiety, depression, insomnia and other ailments as a result of Jones’ and Crisp’s actions. She seeks more than $10,000 in damages.