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Lincoln County Lieutenant retires after months on paid leave during investigation into his actions

WAOW Television

A Lincoln County Sheriff's Lieutenant retired after months of paid-leave.

Nearly 130-pages of an open records request show Lt. Chad Collinsworth retired Oct 1., after months on paid leave during an internal investigation.

In a series of documents, there are dozens of complaints from employees against Collinsworth, including allegations of sexist behavior. One person claimed Collinsworth said 'Females don't belong in law enforcement.'

During firearms training, a female deputy outlines comments Collinsworth made, among them that 'women can't shoot.'

After an officer-involved shooting Collinsworth allegedly saying quote 'I hope this destroys her and that she can't recover from this.'

Both female and male deputies say they waited to file complaints against Collinsworth out of fear of retaliation.

Others saying in the documents released to WAOW, that when deputies did take their concerns to the sheriff, Collinsworth would badger them about what was discussed behind closed doors.

They also claim he would ask them to alter reports or make complaints 'designed to pit co-workers against each other.'

The human resources department conducted the investigation which began in March.

Collinsworth was put on leave in April.

In the conclusion of the investigation, it said Collinsworth is accused of harassment, sexual harassment, bullying and threats of retaliation, which Lincoln County has a zero-tolerance policy. What's unclear is if human resources or the sheriff's department determined whether he violated those policies or not.

The human resources department stated in the investigation that Collinsworth repeatedly denied the accusations.

WAOW has been unable to find Collinsworth's current contact information for comment.

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