Polygraph calls former police cadet's credibility into question

Rocky Mount, N.C. — A test conducted Friday by an independent polygraph expert calls into question the credibility of a former Rocky Mount police cadet who claims she was forced out of her job following a sexual relationship with the police chief.

Shirley Moore contends she became pregnant following an alleged Sept. 14 encounter at a Rocky Mount hotel with Police Chief John Manley and that he paid for her to have an abortion two months later.

Moore's responses about a sexual relationship with Manley were inconclusive, said Robert Drdak, a retired FBI agent who administered the exam.

"There's some truth and some non-truth involved in the whole story," he said. "Her overall credibility would be damaged."

Drdak also said she "miserably" failed questions related to Manley's paying for an abortion.

WRAL News arranged for the test and hired Drdak to administer it after Moore said in an interview last month that she would take one to support her claims. She did not want it to be conducted by any party associated with the city of Rocky Mount, however.

Drdak administered the polygraph test May 2 at the WRAL News studios in a controlled environment that included only him and Moore. A television camera was placed in the room to record the test, but no other people were allowed inside.

Moore has said she agreed to meet Manley for dinner at a local steakhouse and that he reserved a room at an adjoining hotel for her to change and freshen up after a day of academy training.

"My mind is telling me, if I don't go along with it, I'm going to have problems, so I obliged," she told Drdak.

In complaints filed with the City of Rocky Mount and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Moore accuses Manley of giving her the option of resigning or being fired after his wife learned of the alleged encounter.

"I don't think you're being 100 percent truthful about the total circumstances," Drdak told Moore after Friday's test.

Moore then admitted to knowing what she was getting into when she went to the hotel.

Manley declined to comment on the polygraph test results, but said he stands by earlier statements that he only had a professional relationship with Moore. He has adamantly denied Moore's claims of an affair and has said Moore left the position of her own accord.

City logs of Manley's office and cell phones, obtained by WRAL through a public records request, show 144 calls between him and Moore from September through February. The calls ranged from early morning to late evening and included 11 on Sept. 14.

Manley has said all the calls were professional in nature; Moore claims most were about the alleged affair.

The city of Rocky Mount is still conducting its own investigation into Moore's allegations.

Moore, who has hired an attorney and is pursuing a lawsuit, does not waver in her claims, despite the polygraph test results. She maintains the affair led to a pregnancy and that Manley paid to end it.

"All I know is in my heart of hearts what happened," she said. "And that's all I can say."