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YCMTSU New Jersey Secretary Claims Officer Made Death Threat

A fire district secretary in New Jersey has filed suit against the district, a volunteer fire company, a former commissioner, a current commissioner and a deputy chief alleging she has been sexually harassed and had her life threatened, all because she reported the former district official for watching child pornography and masturbating in her office.

The bizarre suit was filed by Deborah Nelson, 53, last week. It names the Board of Commissioners of Franklin Fire District 1, the Millstone Valley Fire Department, former Fire Commissioner Robert R. Scheer Jr., Fire Commissioner James Wickman and Millstone Valley Deputy Chief Douglas Walp as defendants.

The suit is Nelson’s second harassment suit against the district. She filed the first one back in 2009, shortly after former Commissioner Scheer was accused of watching child pornography and other inappropriate conduct. In 2011 as part of a settlement, Scheer resigned and Nelson received a $150,000 settlement .

The second suit was prompted by what Nelson claims is a workplace that continues to be sexually hostile and retaliatory against her. Principal among the specific allegations is a death threat allegedly made by Deputy Chief Douglas Walp in December 2011.

According to myCentralJersey.com, Chief Walp was accused of saying: “The (expletive deleted) better watch her (expletive deleted) or I’ll put a bullet in her head and burn the place down.” Chief Walp was a captain at the time.

Nelson reported Chief Walp’s threats to the Franklin Township Police Department, who investigated and declined to press charges.

More on the story.

UPDATE: Here is another story about the case. It includes a number of additional disturbing details that I won’t go into here – but read them for yourselves.

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Posted in Civil Suit, Constitutional Rights, Criminal Law, Disciplinary Action, Discrimination, Municipal Liability, Sexual Harassment, Sexual misconduct, Volunteers, You Can't Make This Stuff Up

Tagged child pornography, Deborah Nelson, Franklin Fire District, Millstone Valley Fire Department, pornography, Robert R. Scheer Jr.

No comments Posted by Curt Varone on February 21, 2013

Spokane Lieutenant Reaches $2.4 Million Settlement with State Police

A Spokane, Washington fire lieutenant who was falsely accused of child pornography offenses, has reached a $2.4 million settlement with the Washington State Patrol.

The case made headlines in 2008 when state police investigators connected the downloading of child pornography to Nichole Chism’s credit card. Assuming a woman would not be involved in child pornography, police arrested her husband, Lieutenant Todd Chism, and executed a search warrant for his home and computers.

Unbeknownst to the police, Nichole’s credit card had been stolen and her identify used by the actual perpetrators. The arrest left Lt. Chism publically humiliated and ridiculed, suspended from work, and alienated from those who knew him.

Chism’s attorney, Bob Dunn, said “The real travesty of what they did is they invented a bunch of stuff in the search warrants that pornography was actually purchased. … When the WSP decided to arrest Todd … (they) assumed the male would be the one who would purchase the porn even if it was in Nicole’s name. Based on what the WSP did, that purchase on a bank card statement is enough to implicate you of a felony.”

While state police initially denied any wrongdoing, they have since openly acknowledged that mistakes were made during the course of the investigation. Nevertheless, they vigorously defended themselves in court when Chism sued for $10 million. In fact, the settlement was only on the table following a ruling last year by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, that the false statements made by investigators constituted “intentional and reckless conduct” that violated Chism’s civil rights.

Regarding the settlement, Chism told reporters “My opinion is they defrauded the taxpayers of $2.4 million because they knew in the first week that they had made a huge mistake. Rather than doing the right thing, they chose to do everything they could to not take responsibility.”

The settlement is unrelated to a second $10 million lawsuit Chism filed against the state police following an altercation outside his home in 2010. Despite being tasered 7 times and badly beaten, he was charged with felony assault. Chism was found not guilty by a Stevens County jury last year. More on that story.

More on the settlement.

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Posted in Civil Suit, Constitutional Rights, Criminal Law, Disciplinary Action, Municipal Liability, Police-Fire, Politics, Sexual misconduct, Wrongful Arrest

Tagged child pornography, false arrest, spokane fire department, Todd Chism

1 comment Posted by Curt Varone on June 3, 2012

Spokane LT Not Guilty Of Assaulting Police

The long saga of a Spokane fire lieutenant who was falsely accused of two different sets of offenses by Washington State Patrol, ended yesterday with a not-guilty verdict.

Lieutenant Todd Chism was arrested in 2008 after police discovered his credit card had been used to download child pornography. Chism was suspended from the fire department and vigorously proclaimed his innocence. The charges were later dismissed when it was proven that he was the victim of identity fraud and had no connection with the pornography.

Chism then filed a $12 million suit against the Washington State Patrol alleging that its shoddy investigation violated his civil rights and destroyed both his family and his reputation. The case was dismissed in January 2010.

Shortly thereafter, Chism was arrested by State Patrol troopers who claimed he resisted arrest and assaulted them outside his house. The officers were investigating why Chism’s truck had gone off the road. Chism was tasered seven (7) times and photos entered into evidence at trial showed his face was beaten. Chism also needed surgery to repair his thumb that he alleged officers grabbed and twisted during the scuffle.

Chism was found not guilty of four felony charges and one misdemeanor stemming from the altercation. The jury also ordered the State of Washington to pay the legal bill for his defense. No word on when he will be returning to work, or if he plans to file another civil suit. More on the story.

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Posted in Criminal Law, Disciplinary Action, Police-Fire, Wrongful Arrest, You Can't Make This Stuff Up

Tagged child pornography, identity fraud, resisting arrest, spokane fire department, wrongfully accused

1 comment Posted by Curt Varone on August 19, 2011

Curt Varone has over 39 years of experience in the fire service, and 27 as a practicing attorney licensed in both Rhode Island and Maine. His background includes 29 years as a career firefighter in Providence (retiring as a Deputy Assistant Chief), as well as volunteer and paid on call experience. He is the author of two books: Legal Considerations for Fire and Emergency Services, (2006) and Fire Officer's Legal Handbook (2007), and writes the Fire Law column for Firehouse Magazine.