Deputy Stephen Young, public information officer for the Limestone County Sheriff's Office, reads a prepared statement today on the lawsuit filed Monday by Investigator Leslie Ramsey. She claims she was sexually assaulted by the chief deputy and then discriminated and retaliated against in her workplace when she complained.

In a press briefing today, a Limestone County sheriff’s official neither confirmed nor denied an investigator’s allegation of sexual assault by the chief deputy and her claim she endured discrimination, retribution and harassment after she reported the alleged crime.

Meanwhile, Sheriff Mike Blakely posted a comment to his personal Facebook page today in support of the man accused of sexual assault, Chief Deputy Fred Sloss.

Deputy Stephen Young, public information officer, delivered a prepared speech to the media at 11:30 a.m. today in response to a federal lawsuit filed Monday by Investigator Leslie Ramsey. During his 2- to 3-minute speech, Young declined to field questions from the media about the case, citing the pending lawsuit.

Blakely on Facebook

In his Facebook post today, Blakely said the following about Sloss:

“I want everyone to know that I am proud to have Fred Sloss as my chief deputy. I hired Fred when he was discharged from the U.S. Navy. He has served the SO (sheriff’s office) as a correctional officer, road deputy, SRO (school resource officer), lieutenant, captain, and now as chief deputy. Fred comes from a wonderful family. And like his family, he has an outstanding reputation. Fred’s honesty, integrity, and character is second to none. As we go through life there will be bumps in the road but God is good and he is the judge that counts.”

Sheriff’s office statement

Young made the following statement to reporters in today’s press briefing:

“Thank you all for being here today. I apologize in advance for the limitations we face at this time, the brevity with which this briefing will be conducted, and for the fact that we will be unable to field and address questions today.

“With that said, the reason we called this press brief is because your viewers and readers, our communities, deserve better than silence or ‘no comment.’ We must conduct some open dialogue to be able to be able to protect the great relationship we share with our communities.

“It’s important that the people of Limestone County understand there are reasons why we will not address any of the specific details or allegations in the lawsuit today. It is the court’s responsibility to sort out and address those details, and any attempt on our part to do that here today could compromise the integrity of that process.

“However, it’s also important that we reassure the people of this county that, just as the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office is committed to serving them with integrity and kindness, we are equally committed to providing the best workplace environment possible for all our employees.

“Limestone County is a wonderful place, full of great people. We are truly blessed to be able to serve our communities, and we take that charge seriously. The sheriff’s office will continue in our steadfast commitment to respectful and equal treatment of everyone, within the department and outside it, in every way possible.

“We will continue to strive daily for the excellence that our citizens deserve. We will continue to treasure and protect the spirit of unity within the department, with other departments and organizations, and with the people of Limestone County.

“Thank you, and again, for reasons previously stated and on the advice of legal counsel, we are unable to take any questions today.”

Sexual assault claim

Ramsey was hired in 2007 and is known for solving numerous child sexual abuse and other sexual abuse cases as well as other crimes during her tenure as an investigator. She claims in her lawsuit Sloss sexually assaulted her Jan. 14, 2017, when she went to his home with her then-boyfriend, Bobby Joe Ruf, who was a longtime friend of Sloss. Here are the details of the alleged assault set out in the lawsuit:

At some point during the visit, Ramsey claims she went outside to smoke a cigarette in Sloss’ driveway, and Sloss followed her outside. While Ramsey and Sloss were alone in his driveway, Sloss swiped his hand several times between Ramsey’s legs, across her chest and crotch and along the outside of her clothes.

Ramsey also claims Sloss asked her to show her breasts and offered to promote her to captain if she consented to his advances.

Ramsey left Sloss’ residence with Ruf and told Ruf about the incident during their car ride home.

Retaliation claim

Ramsey claims that after she reported the assault to Blakely, she was demoted, passed over for promotion and arbitrarily reprimanded and disciplined, including for losing her sheriff’s office cellphone. She claims Sloss was neither properly investigated nor disciplined over the sexual assault. She claims she was also subject to threats, verbal abuse and ridicule by some male officers in the department.

In the lawsuit, she cites numerous times when other officers were not disciplined for more egregious errors that losing an office cellphone, among them shooting at an unarmed man who was fleeing a scene; leaving the keys of a sheriff’s van inside the vehicle, which was then stolen but later recovered; and losing the cellphone of a woman murdered in 2015, a crime still unsolved.

Trial sought

Ramsey, who has requested a jury trial, is seeking punitive, compensatory and any other damages the court finds appropriate. She is represented by Rebekah McKinney of the Watson McKinney law firm in Huntsville.

The defendants in the lawsuit — Blakely, Sloss, the Limestone County Commission and its chairman — have 21 days to respond to Ramsey’s lawsuit.

Ramsey has also has a case pending with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a federal agency that administers and enforces civil rights laws against workplace discrimination.