The Gazette staff

CHILLICOTHE – A former Chillicothe Police Department officer investigated for an alleged sexual assault and possible misuse of state police databases could get another job in law enforcement, according to an agreement he reached with the city earlier this month.

William Stansberry Jr. reached the agreement through his union representative and representatives with the city Dec. 3. Stansberry had been on paid administrative leave since Nov. 15 after a city woman made a sexual assault allegation against him. Prosecutors later decided not to pursue a criminal case against the now-former officer because they believed the sex was consensual.

Because Stansberry resigned, he would not be prosecuted on any charges related to the investigation. In the agreement, the city also agreed not to place information about the incident or the investigation into Stansberry's personnel file and that a neutral letter of reference would be provided to him.

Capt. Keith A. Washburn, who serves as interim police chief for the department, said the agreement was reached after negotiations between the Fraternal Order of Police Ohio Labor Council and the city.

"Realistically, he could work again," Washburn said Thursday, adding he thinks any future employer would look extensively into Stansberry's work with the city police.

According to the agreement, Stansberry, 38, will get a neutral letter of reference from the city as part of his agreement to resign. Washburn said the letter will only contain employment dates, job duties and what his starting and ending salaries were. The agreement also states the city will not include any information about the incident or investigations in Stansberry's personnel file.

"The documents can't be destroyed, but they are housed in a separate file inside the city," Washburn said.

Washburn referred questions about the specifics of the sexual abuse allegation to the Ross County Sheriff's Office. Prosecutor Matt Schmidt said late Thursday that the report would be available today.

Washburn told the Gazette he first heard of the sexual assault claim Nov. 14 when an Adena Medical Center nurse trained in sexual assault cases called the Ross County Sheriff's Office to tell them the victim had identified a city police officer as the suspect. When Sheriff George Lavender and Schmidt went to the hospital, the victim had already left.

Early the next morning, on Nov. 15, the victim returned to the hospital and later spoke with sheriff's detectives. At that time, the victim identified Stansberry as the suspect. Later that morning, Stansberry was placed on paid administrative leave and the sheriff's office — where Stansberry worked in the jail before joining the city police force — was asked to probe the criminal complaint.

"(The sheriff's office) was asked to do so because they have jurisdiction throughout the entire county," Washburn said. "We handed this off. I don't know of any other way we could have handle it and satisfied the public, just based on the allegations. There's no good way to look at it."

In the course of that investigation, Washburn said the victim claimed she saw her picture on a computer inside Stansberry's cruiser at one point. This prompted a request to the Ohio State Highway Patrol to investigate a possible misuse of state criminal databases.

Later, the prosecutor's office decided not to charge Stansberry with a crime, and the internal investigation began Dec. 1.

"We wanted to avoid any conflicts, so we called Pike County and Sheriff (Richard) Henderson agreed to handle that part of the case," Washburn said, adding that a city police sergeant and a Pike County major began that probe Dec. 3.

Meanwhile, the wheels that resulted in Stansberry's resignation started with a call from the police union to Washburn on Dec. 2, and he resigned the next day.

Washburn said he understands how the incident affects public perception of the department.

"I know we did the right thing," he said. "I knew when I first found out about this that we would receive a hit and get a black eye out of this. I just want this whole thing to be transparent. I hope the public can agree with what we did."