ROUND ROCK — Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody said in an email Thursday that other than an oral reprimand he could not punish Cmdr. Steve Deaton for his Facebook posts depicting date rape, kidnapping and the mutilation of a black football player because no law was broken or policy violated.

"I was informed the policy in place was too vague to rely on for purposes of punishing Deaton for his social media posts," Chody said.

The current policy of the sheriff's office states that "employees may use social media in any way they choose, as long as that use does not produce adverse consequences," the sheriff said in the email.

"We could not conclude what adverse consequences actually resulted from (Deaton's posts) or what exactly was meant by the term "adverse consequences. I visited with Deaton and expressed my concern for the elf on the shelf posts and I asked that he take the posts down … Deaton immediately took down the posts and has not made another post like it since."

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Deaton used pictures of elves to depict violence against women and African Americans in Facebook posts that have since been removed.

Chody said he is currently consulting with lawyers to try to create an "effective and legal policy surrounding social media and digital media."

The American-Statesman ran a story on Saturday citing a therapist's concerns that Deaton's Facebook postings might make victims hesitate to report sexual assaults to the sheriff's office.

A few people went before the Williamson County Commissioners Court on Tuesday and spoke about their anger over the posts.

Kim Gilby, chairwoman of Williamson County Democratic Party, said Thursday that Deaton should be fired.

"I think he should resign or be terminated," she said. "Law enforcement officers are supposed to serve and protect … how can you say Deaton is capable of protection?"

Chody said in his email Thursday that "although offensive and unacceptable to me and others, Deaton's posts may be protected speech or expression … I cannot retroactively go back and punish Deaton for whatever new policy is approved by legal to address these issues."

Chody also said Thursday that "through this, I learned that Deaton, who was an assistant chief to Chief Acevedo at APD, routinely expressed opinions and thoughts through posts for years prior to coming to Williamson County." Chody did not provide details about what Deaton posted while working for the Austin Police Department.

Deaton has previously declined to comment on why he posted the images or took them down. Some were published as recently as December and went back to at least November 2017.

Chody and Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell both liked a post Deaton made on Nov. 28, 2017, showing an elf doll holding a chainsaw over the plastic figure of a black football player whose legs had been cut off at the knees under a U.S. flag. It alluded to then-NFL player Colin Kaepernick taking a knee during the national anthem before a 2016 game to protest police brutality against African Americans and other minorities.

Gravell recently apologized for liking the post. Patricia Gutierrez, a spokeswoman for the sheriff's office, said in an email Thursday that "the reason the sheriff liked that image is because as a veteran he is passionate about the issue of standing for the U.S. flag and completely overlooked the obvious."

"That was a mistake that he now realizes," she said.

Chody also said Thursday that because of the current social media policy he also could not fire a group of employees with the canine unit who officials learned had sent phone messages to each other that were homophobic, made fun of their chain of command and spoke about how much they hated their jobs. It was unclear when the text exchange took place.

"As was the case with Deaton, everyone on the digital text threat received an oral reprimand, except for two people in the K9 unit," Chody said.

He said he fired two of those deputies, Aaron Skinner and Jeremy Stewart, "not for the derogatory comments, horrible photos, statements or memes in the thread, but for dishonesty during their interview."

The deputies were fired in March.