FIRST REPORT: BCSO sergeant suspended for ‘inappropriate comments’
During the internal investigation conducted by Lt. Randy Lambert and Detective Kim Peters, a female employee said Gebhart saw her looking at a magazine with boots for sale.
“Sgt. Gebhart made a comment referencing a sugar daddy/sugar baby relationship (the employee is considerably younger that Gebhart) and said, ‘If you put out, people will buy you things,’” the report says.
Later, Gebhart asked a dispatch supervisor to order boots for the female employee using his credit card, and they were delivered to her residence. Gebhart told the detectives he ordered the boots because he was a longtime friend of the employee.
Two dispatchers said they gave Gebhart back massages in October and November 2018 during which he removed his shirt. They used a back roller while he was on a table.
Gebhart told the detectives he knew the actions were not appropriate. He could not be reached for comment for this story.
Female employees said Gebhart made them feel uncomfortable while talking about them and matters of a sexual nature.
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“The investigation revealed Sgt. Gebhart did permit or otherwise fail to prevent violations of the law, agency rules, policies or procedures, when he made comments that were perceived as sexual in nature and committed acts found to be inappropriate for a supervisor,” Lambert wrote in the report.
Lambert added that at the conclusion of his interview with Gebhart, “Sgt. Gebhart added that he feels bad that people he thought were friends feel the way they do about him and that as a supervisor, these actions will not happen again.”
The investigation began at the end of January on the same day Gebhart filed a complaint about alleged insubordination from a dispatcher.
“On the same day … I received information that several dispatchers had addressed concerns through their chain of command regarding inappropriate sexual comments and actions made by Sgt. Gebhart,” Lambert wrote.
Gebhart, a BCSO employee for 28 years, served a one-day suspension last year for not disclosing that an employee told him another employee attempted to kiss her.
“Supervisors must report violations of agency rules, policies or procedures to their immediate supervisor without delay,” Lt. Rick Bucheit wrote in that report in November.
Gebhart’s personnel file also includes letters of praise from a school administrator, Butler County Common Pleas Judge Greg Stephens for security detail during a capital case and from a citizen in November who said Gebhart was “very professional and courteous to both myself and my wife.”
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“We take these incidents very serious. While the Sergeant admitted the allegations were true, he stated he did not intend to offend any of the employees and understands how some were affected,” Jones said.
Jones said the department has training concerning its workplace harassment policy and “we expect a high standard from our employees, and when there is a violation of the policy, it doesn’t matter who you are there is swift action.
“It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, you have to send a message that it won’t be tolerated in the workplace.”
In addition to the suspension, Gebhart has also signed a last-chance agreement that would lead to his immediate termination if there are any further violations of the department’s workplace policy, the sheriff said. He will also undergo remedial training.
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