Sex Drive

A former city accountant has sued Lone Jack, alleging that cops talked daily about sex at city hall, thrusting their pelvises and speculating about which woman the department’s chief would “slide into” next.

In two federal suits, accountant Terri Davison and former city clerk Debbie Brewington accuse Chief Jeffery Jewell of creating a “hostile, offensive and intimidating” environment where they suffered humiliation, embarrassment and anxiety.

Jewell and officers Steve King, Steve Berry Jr. and Derrick Ross “discussed the number of women with whom Jewell had engaged in sexual intercourse and those with whom he hoped to engage in sexual intercourse,” the suits say.

The suits also allege that Jewell boasted that he had slept with so many women he didn’t know how many children he’d fathered. (Jewell claims four children, three from a former girlfriend and one from that girlfriend’s sister, his current girlfriend.)

Another allegation states that more than once, a urine specimen appeared in the refrigerator next to Davison’s lunch.

Davison and Brewington complained to city officials, but their situations did not improve, Attorney Kirk Holman says. Brewington quit after four years’ employment in June 2000. Davison resigned a few weeks later after little more than a month of employment. They delayed suing for fear of retaliation, their attorney says.

The new lawsuits make a total of four pending against the city and its police chief, including another sexual-harassment lawsuit. A suit settled in December alleged that Jewell botched the investigation of a city councilman’s shooting death, falsified documents regarding a teen-ager’s fatal automobile accident and interfered in an investigation of police involvement in a burglary ring.

The Pitch could not locate King, Berry or Ross for comment. Jewell has called similar sexual-harassment complaints “ridiculous” and “so totally absurd.” He noted that he coaches Little League and kids’ football teams.

But one suit suggests Jewell isn’t just interested in sports trophies. In her complaint, Davison says Jewell frequently entertained a woman in his office behind closed doors, then “[bragged] about his sexual exploits.”