A former Washington County sheriff's sergeant resigned earlier this year after admitting during an internal investigation that he had sex with a coworker while on-duty and on county property, records show.

Shaun Bailey told investigators since he was disciplined in 2006, he had "intimate contact" with three women while on duty, according to an Aug. 7 memorandum summarizing the internal allegations that was released to The Oregonian on Wednesday, Nov. 13. The document doesn't specifically say why Bailey was previously disciplined or how he was punished. The record says he admitted to having sexual contact "in uniform and on duty after his 2006 discipline."

Two of the women worked for the sheriff's office and the third did not, the memo says.

Bailey, according to the memo, said he had sexual encounters at Shute Park, WinCo, Jackson Bottom and a business complex near Hillsboro Stadium. It's unclear whether those contacts occurred while he was on duty.

"He admitted that they could have been detected by (passers-by) but they tried to be very careful and kept a watch out," according to the memo.

Bailey, 39, is the former sergeant of the county's Tactical Negotiations Team, or SWAT unit. He also served as the sergeant of the Criminal Apprehension Team with the sheriff's office. Last November, he was named supervisor of the year by the Oregon State Sheriffs' Association, according to a December 2012 sheriff's office newsletter.

The sheriff's office began its most recent internal investigation involving Bailey on May 24, according to the memo. Bailey resigned from his position as a county SWAT supervisor in early June and was replaced, said Sgt. Bob Ray, a sheriff's office spokesman.

The Oregonian requested documents related to the investigation on July 18. The sheriff's office initially denied the request while the investigation into Bailey continued.

Bailey, who was a 17-year veteran of the agency, resigned Aug. 7 during the ongoing inquiry. A couple weeks prior, he had been placed on desk duty, Ray said.

The Oregonian again requested records related to the investigation on Aug. 12, and the sheriff's office complied.

Bailey voluntarily gave up his police certification with the state's Department of Public Safety Standards and Training on Sept. 26, according to records. He cannot re-apply to become a police officer for 15 years.

In a statement, dated Nov. 12 and provided by the sheriff's office, Bailey apologized for his behavior.

"I do not write this letter in defense of my actions," he wrote. "There is nothing to defend. I take full responsibility for my poor choices. I voluntarily resigned and relinquished my Police Certifications and wish to convey my sincere remorse for my actions that brought discredit and embarrassment to the Washington County Sheriff's Office, to my co-workers, but most of all to my family."

The May investigation into Bailey started after two sergeants, whose names are redacted, alleged he was having a work-related, inappropriate sexual relationship with a co-worker, the memorandum says. The woman's name also is redacted from the document and her position is not revealed.

The sergeants alleged that she and Bailey were having a sexual relationship in public parking lots, possibly on county property and while Bailey was on duty.

Investigators first interviewed Bailey on May 30. They were trying to determine whether the sexual contact occurred on county property; whether Bailey was on duty or off; whether he usd his supervisory role to start the relationship; and whether Bailey had ever supervised or influenced the work of the woman with whom he had sexual contact, memo says.

Bailey told investigators he had been having a sexual relationship with the woman for about a year and a half. He said the two would meet about once a week – typically during her lunch break – and have sex in the back of her vehicle in a public parking lot, the memo says. They also had sex in the old county jail building, located off North First Avenue in Hillsboro, and inside the back seat of a Tactical Negotiations Team pickup truck, Bailey told investigators.

He further said the relationship was consensual and that he never used his supervisory role to encourage her to have sex with him, the memo says. Bailey did not serve as her supervisor, he told investigators.

After investigators talked to Bailey, they contacted the woman he was having sex with on the same day, the memo says. During an interview, she also said that she and Bailey had engaged in their sexual relationship for more than a year. She too said they generally met in a public parking lot during her lunch break to have sex in the back of her vehicle. She acknowledged having sex once in the old jail and two or three times in the SWAT-assigned vehicle.

She said Bailey did not coerce her and that their relationship was consensual.

Investigators again interviewed Bailey on July 23, the memo says. During the 25-minute interview, Bailey said he did not tell his supervisor about the relationship because he knew it was inappropriate. He also said he did not want his wife to find out.

In January and February of 2012, Bailey served as a temporary lieutenant, said Ray, the sheriff's office spokesman. During that period, Bailey did not have sex on duty, he told investigators.

Bailey had "intimate contact" with three women -- two of whom were coworkers -- while on duty after he was disciplined in 2006, according to the memo. The third woman is not in law enforcement.

Ray, the sheriff's office spokesman, said he could not discuss details about Bailey's 2006 discipline.

During the second interview, Bailey told investigators that he had sexual contact while he was in uniform and while dressed as a "plain clothes" officer.

"He recognized that he was absent from duty during the times he was involved in an intimate encounter" while on duty, the document says. During the sexual conduct, he kept his cellphone and police radio on, he reportedly told investigators, and was only partially undressed.

Bailey said he was not sure how much time he spent away from his professional duties during the encounters. He told investigators that he did not inform his supervisor that he would be unavailable while he was having sex.

Bailey said he was unsure when he had sexual contact in the old jail, but said it was on the third floor of the facility in an "area that was accessible to other employees and that those employees could have walked in on them during their intimate encounter," according to the memo.

Bailey told investigators he had had a relationship with one of the women since 2001 and that their last contact had occurred several months ago. He said there were no mitigating circumstances relating to his behavior and that "'it is what it is,'" the memo says.

On July 24, investigators interviewed the second coworker, with whom Bailey reported having sexual contact, the memo says. She indicated that she had been in a lengthy sexual relationship with Bailey, who had never been her supervisor. She further said she had never felt coerced by him. Their relationship started, she said, when he was separated from his wife, and other sheriff's office employees knew they were dating at the time.

The woman told investigators that while she was off-duty, Bailey visited her home in uniform and they had sex, the memo says. She reportedly said she was unsure of whether Bailey was on-duty at the time.

According to the memo, she declined to say whether they had sexual contact in a county building, but did say they once had sexual contact on county property, but the memo did not specify where. She said the contact did not occur in a place where others could see.

On July 25, investigators again interviewed one of the women involved with Bailey. The statements she made during that interview are redacted from the document.

On Aug. 5, investigators told Bailey, who was assigned in a desk position, they again needed to interview him. They set an interview date of Aug. 7.

On the day of the interview, investigators learned that Bailey had resigned.

Since leaving the agency, Bailey said he and his family are trying to heal.

"My family, and more specifically my wife sacrificed so much to allow me the flexibility to throw everything I had at my career," Bailey wrote in his statement. "In the end, they are the ones who have been damaged the most..."

-- Rebecca Woolington