Chattanooga Police Department detective Karl Fields

District Attorney General Neal Pinkston asked the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to open a criminal investigation into Chattanooga police Officer Karl Fields Monday, according to a release from the police department.

Fields has been accused of sending explicit texts to the woman in a rape case he was investigating, including asking her to send nude photos, and filing a harassment charge against the father of a murder victim whose case he was in charge of.

Police Chief Fred Fletcher recommended the TBI investigation.

"Employee misconduct of any type will not be tolerated by me or the police department," he said. "And these allegations are particularly egregious. We will investigate them thoroughly and robustly."

Fields has been placed on administrative leave, which means he no longer has a badge or gun, but is working in an administrative role and still being paid by the department.

Local attorney Cris Helton gave the alleged texts between Fields and the woman to Pinkston on Thursday morning.

See tomorrow's Times Free Press for more information.