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Deputy who admitted surfing porn owes child support

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By Denise G. Callahan, Staff Writer 3:56 PM Tuesday, August 18, 2009

LEBANON — Warren County paid a former sheriff’s lieutenant who admitted he spent more than 100 hours surfing online porn sites while on duty at the jail $1,000 to settle the federal lawsuit.

However, he might not see dime of the settlement. He owes $4,537 in back child support to his ex-wife and she, with the help of the Warren County Child Support Enforcement Agency and Warren County Prosecutor Rachel Hutzel, are trying to secure the settlement money.

Shaun Wells and the county recently settled the six-count lawsuit filed in federal court in Cincinnati in January 2008. Wells accused former Sheriff Tom Ariss and others of discriminating against him when he was fired in 2006. Wells was not seeking reinstatement, but wanted money to compensate him for his job and benefits loss, humiliation and attorneys fees; he also sought punitive damages in excess of $100,000.

Hutzel’s office has filed a temporary restraining order motion, which, if Warren County Common Pleas Judge Tim Oliver agrees, would prevent Wells from receiving the settlement check from the county.

Court documents showed that following an investigation, Wells admitted to spending “up to six hours during shifts viewing pornography and masturbating.”

Wells claimed he was diagnosed with a “dysthymic disorder” that caused him to be addicted to sex and pornography. The suit claimed he tried to get help with his addiction and the county should have made accommodations for him to continue work while he was being treated. The suit also notes that six other employees also were found improperly surfing sites, but weren’t fired.

The documents filed by the county indicate Wells’ disability discrimination claims were unfounded, because his “disorder” is not protected under state and federal law and he never asked for any accommodations. As for the other staffers who were disciplined but not fired, none of them masturbated, none spent the amount of time Wells did surfing and some weren’t of his rank, according to the county.

Sheriff Larry Sims said his office launched a forensic investigation when another supervisor at the jail started suspecting the jail computers were being used in an inappropriate manner.

Oftentimes when the sheriff disciplines his staff they will take the matter up with the union. The union did not side with Wells on this one.

“When an employee gets disciplined they have an opportunity to file a grievance,” he said. “The union themselves have to decide whether they want to arbitrate it, that’s done by a vote of their executive board. Their executive board voted to not arbitrate Wells’ termination. They did not process any kind of an effort to argue the termination.”

Wells and his attorney could not be reached for comment.

Contact this reporter at (513) 696-4525 or dcallahan@coxohio.com.

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