Rocky Mount: No 'credible evidence' for ex-police cadet's claims

Rocky Mount, N.C. — A city investigation did not find any substantial evidence to support a former police cadet's claims that she was forced out of her job after a sexual relationship with the police chief, officials said Thursday.

City attorney Richard Rose and three members of the city management team conducted a two-month investigation of former cadet Shirley Moore's accusations against Police Chief John Manley.

They interviewed 40 people, including current and former city employees and non-city workers.

"The investigation found a lack and deficiency of substantive, reliable and credible evidence to support, confirm or authenticate Ms. Moore's accusations and charges," Stephen Raper, the city manager, said in a press release.

"The allegations, therefore, cannot be and are not sustained," Raper said.

Raper stressed that with the results of the investigation, "The city is and remains wholly confident in the Rocky Mount Police Department and its leadership."

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

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

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.

Moore underwent a lie-detector test, administered by a retired FBI agent in the WRAL News studio on May 2, but its results were inconclusive.

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

Manley has adamantly denied Moore's claims of an affair, maintained that their relationship was always professional and said Moore left the position of her own accord.

Moore did not waver in her claims after the polygraph test. "All I know is in my heart of hearts what happened," she said on May 5. "And that's all I can say."