Sheriff's deputy accused of having sex on duty fired

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A Gwinnett County deputy has been fired over allegations he used a department car and work phone to meet women for sex.

Channel 2's Tony Thomas followed up on a tip he received this week and confirmed details of the internal investigation on Tuesday morning.

The investigation into veteran deputy Chase Peden began with a letter dated the day after Christmas. It accuses Peden of using his department car, cellphone and even handcuffs to meet women for sex.

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Thomas obtained one of two video interviews internal affairs investigators conducted with Peden.

In the video, Peden denied the allegations saying he was actually stopping by stores to do shopping and meeting people for personal business but not sex.

Records Thomas reviewed on Tuesday show investigators interviewed more than two dozen employees, and looked at Peden's department cellphone records. The letter specifically pointed to a January incident in which Peden met a woman outside a Collins Hill fire station.

He said the woman was a soccer coach and many of the other stops uncovered were for shopping.

Peden would later change that answer to say he went home and met his wife a few times. Overall investigators didn't believe him, especially after they say he failed a polygraph test.

"I told her the word sex made me, just saying it now made my body feel different," Peden can be heard saying in the video.

After being fired, Peden appealed his decision to the merit board. A hearing is scheduled for next week.

Because of that process, commanders wouldn't talk publicly about the investigation.

Cox Media Group