Tennessee Deputy Who Baptised An Arrestee And Strip Searched A Minor Now Dealing With 44 Criminal Charges And Five Lawsuits

from the LAW-ENFORCEMENT-OFFICER-OF-THE-YEAR dept

Tennessee sheriff's deputy Daniel Wilkey has racked up some amazing stats during his short law enforcement career. At the age of 26, Deputy Daniel Wilkey is at his second law enforcement agency, having left the Rhea County Sheriff's Office for the Hamilton County in 2018.

During his time as a Rhea County deputy, Daniel Wilkey was named in one (1) federal lawsuit for fatally shooting a person. Since his arrival in Hamilton County in February 2018, Wilkey has been hit with five (5) civil rights lawsuits. Fortunately, none of these involve Wilkey killing anyone.

More unfortunately, about half of them break new ground in civil rights violation territory. One alleges an unlawful roadside anal search that injured the searchee. Another involves a super-weird forced baptism in a nearby lake, supposedly in exchange for leniency with a drug arrest. Both of those were filed on the same day.

Yet another two (2) lawsuits involve minors, roadside strip searches, and Wilkey's bizarre personal blend of religious affirmations and verbal abuse.

But Wilkey's biggest numbers are his latest. Via Cacobot comes this update: Deputy Wilkey is facing almost as many felony charges as he is years-old.

Hamilton County Sheriff's Office Deputy Daniel Wilkey has been indicted on 44 criminal charges, including 25 felonies, "pertaining to incidents he was involved in while on duty in an official capacity," according to the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office.

Here are the charges (with counts per), which can pretty much be read to the tune "Twelve Days of Christmas" [felonies in bold]:

10 Reckless Driving

9 Official oppression

7 Reckless endangerment

6 Sexual Battery

4 Stalking

3 Assault

2 False imprisonment

2 Rape

1 Extortion

All this from a deputy who's only been with his current agency for ten (10) months. And in that short period of time, he managed to rack up eight (8) internal affairs investigations.

The criminal charges only add to Wilkey's multitudinous problems. Judges in two of the four lawsuits Wilkey is facing have refused to put those on hold until after the criminal cases are decided. Wilkey's attorney argued it would be unfair for him to have to face both, especially since testimony/evidence in the criminal cases could be used against him in the civil lawsuits. Too bad, says Judge Mattice, who is presiding over the forced baptism case:

"Defendants… downplay Plaintiff's interest in vindicating alleged violations of the rights guaranteed to her by the United States Constitution. It is not merely 'money' weighed against Defendant's unspecified rights," Mattice wrote. "As previously noted, Defendants do not have a right to defend against civil and criminal proceedings one at a time, nor do they have a general right to avoid the evidentiary implications of responsive pleadings."

Things may change as the criminal cases move forward, but for now, Wilkey's fighting a battle on at least two five fronts. One lawsuit has been stayed, but only for 90 days. Wilkey might want to start exercising that speedy trial right ASAP.

As for Wilkey's compadres -- the three deputies who stood idly by while Wilkey violated rights in new and inventive ways? They're just kind of hanging around, sucking up tax dollars. Bobby Brewer, who aided with the roadside anal search, is on clerical duty. Jacob Goforth, who hung around and watched Wilkey "baptise" an arrestee, is back on active duty. And Tyler McRae, who helped Wilkey proselytize while stripping a minor down to his boxer shorts, is still on patrol and has not been placed under investigation.

Deputy Wilkey is in a league of his own. His LAR* won't be topped any time soon -- at least not by anyone playing for farm team agencies. It will take a major league asshole to beat Wilkey's 44 charges and five lawsuits. Given enough time, someone will be it cumulatively. But give those fuckers an asterisk. Wilkey's dealing with this all at the same time -- and he locked down these stats in a mere 10 months of work.

*Lawsuits Above Replacement

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Filed Under: daniel wilkey, hamilton county, police, rhea county, tennessee