‘My picture should have never been up there’: Former La Vergne Sgt. addresses accusations brought up in 2022 sex scandal
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LA VERGNE, Tenn. (WKRN) – A former sergeant who claims he was unfairly fired as part of a department-wide sex scandal is speaking publicly for the first time. In addition to sexual harassment claims, former La Vergne Sgt. Henry ‘Ty’ McGowan is accused of putting his hands around a coworker’s neck.
“Since this all came out….a nightmare, nightmare,” is how McGowan described the past year after he received a call he never expected. “[He] called me and said, ‘We’re going to terminate you.’ That’s not words I hear, you know what I mean? And it was, it was horrible. I mean, that was horrible.”
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Since news of a sex scandal inside the La Vergne Police Department broke, McGowan has been publicly silent about what happened. However, now he considers it important to tell his side of the story.
On Monday, April 15, News 2 revealed how McGowan admitted to receiving nude images from former officer Maegan Hall, but maintained he never had sex with her.
“I knew everything about everything, but I didn’t talk about it,” said McGowan.
A 20-page report from the head HR investigator accused McGowan and four others of having sex with Hall. She was the only female officer listed in the investigation.
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The report also detailed an incident in which McGowan admitted to putting his hands around a co-worker’s neck in the HR office.
According to the report, someone in the HR Department reported McGowan in a written statement to the head of HR. The statement said in part:
“One afternoon about a month ago, Ty McGowan had come into human resources. He spent time chatting and cutting up with [name] and myself. After about 10 minutes, I turned back around at my desk to go back to work. The next thing I knew he, Ty, had come up behind me, placed his hand around my throat, and began to squeeze. I froze. I could not say anything. I just sat there. I felt uncomfortable.”
-Alledged Victim
However, McGowan claims the situation was taken out of context.
“I was just a joke around a lot, and that’s what we’re doing. We’re joking around and I did not put my hands around her neck; it was more on the shoulders, and I was going myself like this, and she was kind of going along with it,” explained McGowan as he grabbed his shoulders.
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The report would reveal that a witness also wrote a statement to the head of HR about the incident. That statement said in part:
“All of a sudden, Ty stands up from the office chair he was sitting in and grabbed [name] throat. I could not see her face and did not hear her say anything while this was happening, but he was smiling and talking to her about something. I did not hear the words he was saying as I was taken back by him grabbing her throat. It happened for a few seconds or so and he let go. [Name] was laughing and cutting up after the initial act, so initially to me it did not seem alarming.”
-Witness
“You want to make me look like I choked somebody, and even though your witness, your subordinate said they were joking,” McGowan countered. “She was honest for the most part, for the most part. Not totally, but for the most part.”
It would end with the HR director recommending McGowan’s termination, citing workplace violence, conduct unbecoming of an officer, lying during the course of the investigation, and sexual harassment. In the report, the HR director wrote, “McGowan, more likely than not, had sexual relations with Hall.”
“I just, I don’t understand how Patton came to that conclusion of ‘more likely than not.’ Would you take that to court? I wouldn’t dare,” McGowan said.
McGowan admits to receiving nude images from Hall, but maintains he never had sex with her; he even detailed how Hall came to his house and nothing happened.
“So with me being a mentor, yeah, you can come over here. You can come over here for a minute. She wanted to stay,” described McGowan.
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Another part of the investigation brought back a 2007 incident to light.
News 2: “The 2007 incident.”
McGowan: “Yes.”
News 2: “You admitted to it in 2007.”
McGowan: “Because I did it.”
In 2007, McGowan was demoted after the city said he had sex while on duty. While McGowan admitted to it, he maintained he’s not guilty in this latest scandal.
A new lawsuit from McGowan said there was “no proof of active sexual activities” between him and Hall.
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The lawsuit goes on to say although McGowan was not the only Black man terminated as a result of the investigation, he was the only one initially disciplined when there was no corroboration that he had a sexual encounter with Hall.
“I mean, we have to address the elephant in the room. We’ve got three Black guys, a Hispanic guy gets terminated, and we got these other white guys involved. They keep their jobs,” McGowan said. “It’s unfair that they released everything. My picture should have never been up there.”
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News 2 reached out to the City of La Vergne about the lawsuit and was told the city cannot comment on pending litigation.
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