The Haddon Township commission is pressing four ranking officers in the police department who allege Chief Mark Cavallo sexually harassed them with unwanted advancements -- including touching them on their thighs and spontaneous hugs -- to testify under oath about the allegations.

All of the officers, including the chief, are men.

Haddon Township and its joint insurance fund has spent $202,745 in the past year investigating and settling claims related to sexual harassment allegations against Cavallo, according to a public documents search, but the probe is still not complete.

Attorney Liz Garcia delivered a report to township commissioners in January. The three-member commission, including Teague, James Milroy and Paul Dougherty, held a special meeting on Feb. 6 to discuss the report. After a 30-minute, closed-door executive session, the commissioners unanimously voted to continue the investigation with sworn testimony from the accusing officers and Cavallo.

"After interviewing the entire department and looking at what everyone said, we thought there was more information that we needed, and we wanted to have the statements under oath and transcribed," Teague said.

A fifth officer, Jason Dement who was fired in 2015 after 11 years on the force, settled a lawsuit with the township for $175,000 last year. DeMent's lawsuit claimed he had text messages, pictures and other inappropriate communications from Cavallo. DeMent agreed to a settlement that said he had no inappropriate communications from Cavallo and that he was never subjected to a hostile work environment.

The township maintains DeMent was terminated because of a degenerative eye ailment that prevented him from performing his duties. The fee was paid by the township's insurance fund which advised a settlement, Mayor Randall Teague said.

In addition to the $175,000 settlement, the township has paid $27,745 since March 2017 to an attorney from the firm of Parker McKay to investigate the sexual harassment allegations, according to a public records search.

Captain Scott Bishop, Lieutenant Sean Gooley, Sergeant Thomas Whalen and Detective Sergeant Joseph D. Johnston, alleged that since 2008, Cavallo had made flirtatious, sometimes sexual comments and inappropriately touched them.

Teague said the allegations against Cavallo surfaced during discussions of promotions and new hires in the 26-officer department and he believes the disputes may be related.

Jeffrey Caccese, an attorney for the officers, did not return a call and email requesting comment.

Cavallo, 59, makes $135,499 and received a 2 percent raise in July. He has been a chief since 2009 and a member of the township police force for 34 years.

Bill Duhart may be reached at bduhart@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @bduhart. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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