A year after allegations of sexual misconduct were directed at an Athens Police Department career-shadowing program, it continues onward with a few changes.
APD's Explorers program, a service that gives those aged 14 to 21 a more thorough view of law enforcement, was put under investigation following an anonymous letter sent last October.
The letter alleged that former officer Brian Lushbaugh had forced himself on the writer and threatened to have her expelled from the program if she did not comply. He later told special prosecutor Rocky Coss that he had sex with two female Explorers during the three-year period in question from late 1998 until late 2001, Coss said.
In the 12 months since the initial investigation, the program is under new leadership and has instituted additional safeguards. The changes include requiring Explorers to undergo the city's sexual harassment training program, several more officers taking on advising roles in the program and placing a limit on the number of ride-along hours allowed per week with a single officer, Capt. Tom Pyle said.
Only the sexual harassment awareness program was a direct result of Lushbaugh's conduct with female Explorers, and new leadership in any program often results in a different set of procedures, adviser Lt. Ralph Harvey said.
Lushbaugh's actions were investigated by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation and led to his resignation in March. He left APD after paying a $1,500 fine and pleading guilty to two counts of dereliction of duty for engaging in sexual relations with two legal-aged girls while on duty, a second-degree misdemeanor, according to Athens Municipal Court documents.
Officer Megan Dowler, a former Hocking College student and Explorers program alumna who was asked to become an adviser for the program, said she felt the additional advisers makes for a more open environment.
I just think at that age it would be easier for a girl to talk to another girl
she said.
The Explorers program is comparable to an unpaid internship, as its members receive a thorough view of police officer duties while assisting the understaffed department ' which is authorized to have 28 officers but has 20 on duty ' with various tasks, program adviser Officer Adam Claar said.
Members must pay $7 a year to the Boy Scouts of America in addition to uniform fees, and APD is charged $20 a year to stay chartered, he said.
There are currently about seven individuals who regularly attend monthly meetings for the program, most of whom are Hocking College students who join for a year or two. The number often fluctuates, but few, if any, had quit as a result of the Lushbaugh incident, Claar said.
Though city employees must undergo a sexual harassment training course before they begin working, unpaid Explorers had been excused from doing so because it was incorrectly believed they had received such training from the Boy Scouts of America, said Beverly Henderson, city personnel director and conductor of the sexual harassment training.
The meeting focuses on explanation of the law and enforces that the city neither tolerates such behavior nor expects the victim to stay quiet on the matter, she said.
Lushbaugh himself had received sexual harassment training, titled From Sex to Religion: Putting a Halt to Harassment in the Workplace as well as his signed confirmation that he received the City of Athens Policy on Sexual Harassment and a fact sheet for employees on preventing sexual harassment, according to his personnel file.
I can't say a training course is going to stop anyone from doing something Harvey said.
Ultimately, the program was not discontinued because such a decision would be an excessive reaction to an otherwise good program, said Chief Richard Mayer, adding that it has been in place at least since his arrival in 1988.
You take care of the problem and move on Mayer said.
Lushbaugh was unable to be reached for comment for this story.
While both the Ohio University Police Department and Athens County Sheriff's Office offer ride-along programs to those interested as well, neither has a similar training system for aspiring officers.
There was an Athens Police Department and Explorers program before Brian Lushbaugh and there will be after him
Harvey said.
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