By Adam Crisp and Chris Carroll
Chattanooga Times Free Press
A second Hamilton County sheriff’s deputy now faces sex charges this week in connection with alleged sexual contact with a minor.
“I think the sheriff’s office needs to take a real look at this,” County Commissioner Fred Skillern said. “I want it handled quickly and severely. With law enforcement or government employees, we shouldn’t tolerate this in any way.”
The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office recently was notified by the White County Sheriff’s Department of an investigation involving deputy John Spaulding and alleged improper contact with two juveniles in White County, Hamilton County sheriff’s spokeswoman Janice Atkinson said.
Deputy Spaulding was suspended with pay on Dec. 26 pending the outcome of the investigation, she said. He was indicted in White County on Wednesday and now is suspended without pay, she said.
The deputy faces two counts of aggravated sexual battery and was arrested Tuesday, officials said.
Also Tuesday, Hamilton County Deputy Jeff Edwin Baker was arrested and charged with two counts of statutory rape. He was a school resource officer at East Ridge Middle School and is accused of having illegal sexual contact with a juvenile female student.
Ms. Atkinson declined to say whether the alleged victim was a student at the middle school.
Deputy Baker is on paid suspension while the investigation continues.
With two incidents in the same week, Sheriff Jim Hammond said he is prepared to address the ongoing problem with the county’s force.
“We continue to emphasize to officers that they live in a glass house,” he said. “The fact that the allegations will be dealt with shows that the system does work. But can you ever stop this? Who can answer that?
“I do know that I committed when I came aboard that we would ferret out any wrongdoing where we found it,” he said. “They are serious allegations, and I cannot let someone continue to hold the public’s trust while these allegations are playing themselves out in the court.”
A third Hamilton County deputy, James Spates, was arrested in 2008 and charged with improper contact with a juvenile female as he was taking her to a juvenile lock-up.
Copyright 2010 Chattanooga Publishing Company