The plaintiff in a federal lawsuit alleges that the Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan may have participated in a deputy "sex ring," and that pressure from his administration may have deterred Internal Affairs personnel from fully investigating the matter.

Attorneys allege Leah Manning, the plaintiff's mother, was sleeping with multiple deputies, some of who visited her for sex while on duty. Manning was sentenced to 25 years in prison after jurors found she and her husband, Douglas Manning, forced one of their then-juvenile twin daughters to participate in group sex activity.

In 2017, one of the twins filed a civil lawsuit in Pensacola's U.S. District Court alleging that Morgan had been aware of the sex ring, but his "deliberate indifference" allowed it to continue unchecked. Morgan called the lawsuit capricious and denied having a personal relationship with any member of the Manning family.

Nonetheless, attorneys for the plaintiff are questioning if Morgan may have been directly involved in the case, in light of Leah Manning's recent claims the sheriff was one of her sexual partners. An attorney for the sheriff dismissed the claims as false, meritless and designed to harass and embarrass the sheriff, and in a statement the sheriff said the whole case was based on "rumors and innuendo."

Still, the plaintiff's attorney claims that there is a potential conflict of interest in Morgan being both head of the agency that investigated the Manning sex ring and a possible participant. The two sides are now jostling to determine whether the sheriff should be required to give a deposition in the case.

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Leah Manning's allegations

Leah Manning — who is currently is state prison on an array of child abuse charges — gave a civil disposition on May 22, 2019, in which she identified Morgan by name as a sexual partner, according to a recent filing by the plaintiff's attorney, Joe Zarzaur.

The document also alleges that Manning made a similar claim in a 2015 deposition, and that she had the sheriff's personal cell phone number and "a family dog named after him."

Manning reportedly told attorneys that she had slept with Morgan approximately five times, and that a video exists in which Morgan is shown half-naked in a hotel bed.

In a written statement, Morgan urged people to remember the source of the claims.

"These allegations are being brought by Leah Manning, a convicted felon serving 25 years for; three counts of sexual battery (solicitation of a child for sexual battery), sexual performance by a child, unlawful sexual activity with certain minors, two counts of failure to report child abuse, two counts of lewd and lascivious battery (victim 12-15 years of age), and battery," Morgan's statement said.

"Now, after more than two years of incarceration, she miraculously 'remembers' having also had a relationship with me in a case brought by her daughters. This suit is based on rumors and innuendo fueled by social media posts. Unfortunately, as a public official, I am subjected to any allegation simply by utterance of a word."

The Internal Affairs investigation

Along with the Mannings, two deputies, Mark Smith and Walter Thomas, were charged with sex crimes against the twins. Smith was acquitted, and Thomas was convicted and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

A court filing from the plaintiff's attorney states that Leah Manning's cell phone records indicated there were numerous graphic sexual texts between her and various deputies, but internal affairs investigators were instructed that looking into these acts would be "running down a rabbit trail."

The court filing claims investigators were instructed to "focus on the narrow scope of their investigation and ignore the potential sheriff office policy violations since behavior between 'consenting adults' was not material to them."

The document also claims testimony taken in depositions establishes the internal affairs process at ECSO has been "controlled by political and social pressures from administrators for a significant period of time," and administration curtailed the investigation into Smith and Thomas because they felt it would be a "public relations nightmare."

The filing notes that "at the outset of this case, counsel for plaintiff had indirect evidence that Sheriff Morgan may have been involved with Leah Manning and it was known that Sheriff Morgan's personal cell phone number was found in Ms. Manning's iPhone contact list."

At the time of the Mannings' arrests, Morgan said that Leah Manning had been previously employed at the Escambia County Sheriff's Office as a nurse in the jail, but he said he could not speculate if that was where Smith and Thomas met the couple.

Since the sheriff had ultimate control over the decision not to investigate all the deputies who were found in Leah Manning's phone, "it is material and relevant to know whether or not this decision was due to a conflict of interest," the document says.

The current court case

Attorneys for Morgan have disputed the plaintiff's arguments and petitioned the court to block Morgan from having to give a deposition Friday, or at minimum, to put the deposition under seal.

The motion for protective order, filed by Morgan's attorney, Timothy Warner, cites that high-ranking government officials are often allowed to delegate depositions to subordinates. The practice prevents officials from being subjected to "numerous, repetitive and abusive depositions" concerning matters they have no personal knowledge of.

Warner argues that the lawsuit against Morgan falls into that category, and is "based on events and circumstances to which he sheriff was not present and has no first-hand knowledge."

The plaintiff's attorney argues that the case meets the three standards necessary to compel an official to submit to a deposition: that he has unique, personal knowledge of the facts at issue; that the plaintiff has exhausted other, less intrusive means of discovery; and that the plaintiff's interest in obtaining the information from the official outweighs any potential harm.

Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Timothy has granted Morgan's attorney until Wednesday morning to reply to the plaintiff's argument.

Additionally, Timothy is reviewing a request from the plaintiff's camp that the Sheriff's Office be compelled to turn over all the raw cell phone and computed data it seized from suspects during the case, which could in theory include the cell phone video mentioned in Manning's testimony.

The Sheriff's Office contends that it handed over all the data it had relevant to the case, but has until noon Friday to make an argument in writing.

Kevin Robinson can be reached at krobinson4@pnj.com or 850-435-8527.