ARBITRATOR: SEXUAL MISCONDUCT NOT PROVED

Fired Greene deputy to return to work

XENIA - A Greene County sheriff's deputy, fired 11 months agoafter he was accused of making unwanted sexual advances toward afemale deputy, will return to work Friday on an arbitrator's ruling.

Deputy Kevin Banks was fired July 12, 2002, after a months-longsheriff's investigation into an allegation that he put his hand downthe pants of Deputy Amy Mallory in a room they shared at the ArgosyCasino and Hotel in Lawrenceburg, Ind., June 5, 2001.

The sheriff's office alleged that Banks, who refused a polygraphexam, lied about the incident and behaved in a way that did not putthe office in a respectable light.

According to arbitrator Harry Graham's report, signed May 31,Mallory arrived at the casino and invited Banks to stay in her roombecause it had two beds.

Mallory told investigators that when she awoke the next day, Banksasked if she recalled having sex with him and then interjectedimmediately that he was joking. He discussed how he could tell co-workers he had sex with her and make her look bad, she said.

She told investigators that she sat next to him on the bed when heasked her for other hand, then began to struggle with him when shetried to take it away. He then grabbed her hand and put his free handdown her pants, she told investigators. The report indicated thatMallory had bruises on her wrist.

Banks, through the FOP, contended the sex had been consensual andoccurred after they had spent much of the evening drinking andgambling. The union also contended that Mallory fabricated the storyto conceal the affair from her then-boyfriend, also was a sheriff'sdeputy.

Graham decided Mallory's timeline of events was improbable, thattestimony from co-workers didn't support her and phone recordssupported Banks.

Graham ordered Banks' firing reduced to a 10-day suspension,finding him guilty of using the county's e-mail system to provide aninmate's information to an ex-girlfriend and to forward crude e-mailjokes and images.

Interim Sheriff John Prugh said he thinks Mallory's story iscredible, but that his department must honor the arbitrator's order.

The sheriff's office has since limited Internet and e-mail use tooffice workers, supervisors, detectives and those in similarpositions, Prugh said.

Thomas Fehr, an FOP staff representative, said the union wantedBanks cleared on all charges. `(But most importantly) the allegationsof sexual misconduct were unproven,' he said.

Graham's report is from the Federal Mediation and ConciliationService case of the Fraternal Order of Police-Ohio Labor Council vs.the Sheriff's Office.