by Kim Gebbia
MT. JULIET, Tenn. - Five city employees are out of a job in Mt. Juliet after hundreds of illicit text messages were discovered being sent back and forth on city phones.
The investigation began after a Mt. Juliet Police officer filed a grievance complaint about what he found on his wife's cell phone, who is a city employee.
Turns out, his wife was not the only one using city cell phones and time at work to do things other than their job.
According to this investigation led by detectives in Mt. Juliet, five employees, three of them in the public works department, one in the finance department and the officer who blew the whistle, all were using their city owned cell phones and computers to send explicit pictures and texts to each other.
The report states that two employees admitted to sending photos of their genitalia with a city cell phone while having sex. It also states that a female employee sent pictures of her cleavage while in the City Finance office bathroom to another employee. That male employee responded with pictures of his biceps and partially exposed penis.
Four of them resigned prior to the information becoming public, but one of them was fired on Wednesday. The majority admitted to texting, instant messaging, and emailing for hours on end while on the job at Mt. Juliet Public Works.
The report also states that several of those mentioned signed on to a web site called www.ashleymadison.com from their work computer. The web site is a site that helps someone discreetly cheat on their spouse.
Mayor Ed Hagerty said he has no plans to go through all the details of this report, but just hopes Mt. Juliet can move on.
Hagerty is going to propose an ordinance at the next meeting to not fill any of these now vacant positions. He believes it's clear they had too much time on their hands and that their jobs are not necessary to the function of Mt. Juliet.
Email: kgebbia@newschannel5.com
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