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Former Clay County Sheriff fired from State Attorney’s Office after sexual harassment investigation

Jesse Hollett
Posted 6/21/17

JACKSONVILLE – Florida State Attorney Melissa Nelson fired former Clay County Sheriff Scott Lancaster late last month after an internal investigation found Lancaster had made inappropriate, …

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Former Clay County Sheriff fired from State Attorney’s Office after sexual harassment investigation


Posted

JACKSONVILLE – Florida State Attorney Melissa Nelson fired former Clay County Sheriff Scott Lancaster late last month after an internal investigation found Lancaster had made inappropriate, sexually charged remarks to several female coworkers.

Lancaster, who was hired by the State Attorney as an investigator in February, became the subject of an internal investigation after a female coworker filed a complaint against Lancaster, who, allegedly, complimented her on her looks in an inappropriate manner, went out of his way to be alone with her and asked her over the phone if she was “covered up.”

Nelson fired Lancaster May 31 after investigators released a 144-page internal memo detailing Lancaster’s encounters with several female coworkers, and an instance with a security guard where Lancaster asked if he could kiss her, according to the memo.

In the original complaint, a coworker described two occasions where Lancaster said “something to the effect of ‘good morning, gorgeous,’ or ‘good morning, beautiful.’”

The memo also states that on one occasion Lancaster asked the coworker to come into his office because he had “heard how nice she looked today, and he wanted to see for himself.”

A coworker who saw the woman following the event told investigators that she appeared shaken and confused, and asked “what am I supposed to wear to work?”

Lancaster responded to the allegations in a sworn written statement, describing the accusations as simple misunderstandings.

“It has always been my understanding that complimenting a staff member on their wardrobe was proper. Indeed, I have been the recipient of such comments. I routinely compliment both men and women on their appearance and find that I receive compliments often on my appearance as well,” Lancaster wrote. “My wife does a very good job of dressing me with nice looking ties. At no time have I in anyway meant to offend [the female coworker], and if I have done so am certainly willing to apologize and can assure you in the future I will neither request to be alone in her presence or compliment her on her attire.”

Later in the statement, Lancaster said that none of the women had come forward to tell him that they felt uncomfortable from his comments, as dictated in the employee policy.

The woman in the original complaint first confided privately in Special Assault Director Dan Skinner, recounting inappropriate conversations between her and Lancaster. According the memo, she also mentioned a similar inappropriate comment made by a separate employee, but apparently misunderstood the employee’s complaint to be directed at a separate individual, because Skinner later shared some of that meeting in a private conversation with Lancaster.

Investigators later offered Lancaster an ultimatum to resign immediately or see the completion of the investigation. He stayed, and Lancaster was placed on paid leave during the investigation. On May 31, he was fired from the State Attorney’s Office.

This is not the first time Lancaster has been embroiled in scandal. Lancaster, who served as Clay County Sheriff from 1993 to 2004, lost his third election in part to the conclusion of a grand jury investigation concluded he had made inappropriate purchases with a county-issued credit card.

A 2002 internal report found Lancaster owed the county over $3,000 for his purchases that he later paid off. A jury failed to indict him because of a lack of evidence that suggest criminal intent in his purchases.

In April 2005 he served as the Director of Criminal Justice Training at St. Johns River State College until he retired in 2009.

Calls to Lancaster’s cellphone nor emails and calls to the State Attorney’s Office for comment were returned by deadline.