Town of Smithfield fires Ronald Johnson, former police officer and school board member

The Johnston County School Board voted earlier this month 6-1 to censure Johnson, who was accused of secretly recording board members on 10 different occasions. That same month, a school district employee also came forward, accusing Johnson of sending inappropriate texts about her in 2019.

In those texts, Johnson told Lawrence that the school employee was "wearing the hell out of that dress" and that "I'm ready right now."

A copy of the termination letter dated Oct. 14 and signed by the town manager stated Johnson admitted to sending the text messages. Johnson had multiple meetings with the town's human resources department before his firing.

Longtime Smithfield police officer on paid leave while internal investigation is underway

During an Oct. 6 meeting, board members called Johnson's behavior "sickening" and "ridiculous."

"It’s sad. This is sad, that we’ve got board members talking about having a relationship with someone that’s out there in the audience," said board member Lyn Andrews.

Later, Andrews addressed Johnson directly.

"This is not a game that we’re playing around this horseshoe. This is children’s lives," Andrews said. "This is the livelihood of employees. This is not a game, Mr. Johnson. But it is to you, Mr. Johnson, yes it was."

Other board members also condemned Johnson's actions, including Vice-Chair Terri Sessoms.

"In this role, we are role models. We are role models for children. We are role models for employees," Sessoms said. "This is not the kind of behavior that we want our children to grow up thinking is ok."

Johnson defended his actions, saying he and the school district employee hung out on a number of occasions and joked about the texts.

"I proactively sought out this individual [and] apologized to this individual," Johnson said. "We were friends then. We were friends for years, and I told her about this, and it became a running joke between us."