NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A state trooper has been fired over allegations that he disregarded a drug possession charge in exchange for oral sex from a porn actress, the Tennessee Highway Patrol announced Thursday.
James Randy Moss, 40, was suspended over the allegations earlier this week while the THP investigated the claims from the woman, who goes by the stage name Barbie Cummings.
The state now plans to file criminal charges against Moss related to her claims that he threw away her bottle of prescription pills before their encounter, The Knoxville News Sentinel reported.
"We'll be aggressively pursuing a charge that he destroyed narcotics," Department of Safety spokesman Mike Browning said. "There could be other charges."
The department received an internal complaint about the allegations that were described on a blog kept by Cummings. The blog has since been taken down and Cummings has not returned calls for comment.
According to the citation issued by Moss, he stopped the woman's pink Honda Accord for speeding outside Nashville on May 7, according to the citation that identifies Cummings by her legal name, Justis Richert, 21.
Cummings wrote on her blog that when the officer, whom she does not name, asked her if she had drugs in the car, she admitted to having some "happy pills."
"I sometimes have these pills as I may take one or two before going to a club," Cummings wrote in an entry dated May 7. "It was a small amount of pills, nothing major."
Moss' citation does not mention finding any illegal narcotics in the car.
When the officer told her a drug charge would mean she could not leave the state, Cummings replied that would be a problem because she frequently travels from Tennessee to Los Angeles for her work.
"I tell him I make dirty movies," Cummings wrote. "He says he wished he had gotten into that industry."
The pair then watched sex videos from her Web site using Moss' laptop computer in his patrol car, she wrote. He took the pills and scattered them in the brush beside the highway, she said.
"Then he asks me, what does it cost for someone like me to get anything like you," she wrote.
She described performing oral sex on the officer outside his car in a secluded area. Photos that appear to be video stills she said he took during the incident and posted on her blog show her face but nothing that identifies the man as a trooper.
Cummings did not return e-mails and phone calls from The Associated Press seeking comment this week, but told her story in a video interview with The Knoxville News Sentinel.
Third Woman Comes Forward
The most recent complaint is the third complaint against Moss.
In his personnel file, there is one complaint filed against him in March 2000 for sexual misconduct.
The complaint claimed he asked a woman to expose herself during a traffic stop. The allegation was never proved and eventually dismissed. But the commissioner said they are taking another look at it.
Tennessee Highway Patrol Commissioner Dave Mitchell said a third woman contacted the department after seeing the story about Moss and Richert earlier this week.
"The allegations that have been brought to our attention by the other two individuals I would describe as very serious inappropriate unacceptable conduct," Mitchell said.
"We are also expanding this investigation by reviewing prior citations issued by Moss, the video camera in his vehicle. We are doing a comprehensive investigation into the conduct and activity of Trooper Moss," Mitchell said.
Moss has been a part of the department for 10 years. Mitchell said he doesn't know of any other possible victims, but investigators are going to examine Moss' past.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is also involved. Mitchell said investigators there are looking at the laptop computer from Moss's patrol car.
Mitchell said they have turned over their evidence to the Wilson County district attorney. Mitchell said that any other women who may have had inappropriate interaction with Moss should call 1-877-459-3038.
http://www.nbc5i.com/news/13372291/detail.html
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James Randy Moss, 40, was suspended over the allegations earlier this week while the THP investigated the claims from the woman, who goes by the stage name Barbie Cummings.
The state now plans to file criminal charges against Moss related to her claims that he threw away her bottle of prescription pills before their encounter, The Knoxville News Sentinel reported.
"We'll be aggressively pursuing a charge that he destroyed narcotics," Department of Safety spokesman Mike Browning said. "There could be other charges."
The department received an internal complaint about the allegations that were described on a blog kept by Cummings. The blog has since been taken down and Cummings has not returned calls for comment.
According to the citation issued by Moss, he stopped the woman's pink Honda Accord for speeding outside Nashville on May 7, according to the citation that identifies Cummings by her legal name, Justis Richert, 21.
Cummings wrote on her blog that when the officer, whom she does not name, asked her if she had drugs in the car, she admitted to having some "happy pills."
"I sometimes have these pills as I may take one or two before going to a club," Cummings wrote in an entry dated May 7. "It was a small amount of pills, nothing major."
Moss' citation does not mention finding any illegal narcotics in the car.
When the officer told her a drug charge would mean she could not leave the state, Cummings replied that would be a problem because she frequently travels from Tennessee to Los Angeles for her work.
"I tell him I make dirty movies," Cummings wrote. "He says he wished he had gotten into that industry."
The pair then watched sex videos from her Web site using Moss' laptop computer in his patrol car, she wrote. He took the pills and scattered them in the brush beside the highway, she said.
"Then he asks me, what does it cost for someone like me to get anything like you," she wrote.
She described performing oral sex on the officer outside his car in a secluded area. Photos that appear to be video stills she said he took during the incident and posted on her blog show her face but nothing that identifies the man as a trooper.
Cummings did not return e-mails and phone calls from The Associated Press seeking comment this week, but told her story in a video interview with The Knoxville News Sentinel.
Third Woman Comes Forward
The most recent complaint is the third complaint against Moss.
In his personnel file, there is one complaint filed against him in March 2000 for sexual misconduct.
The complaint claimed he asked a woman to expose herself during a traffic stop. The allegation was never proved and eventually dismissed. But the commissioner said they are taking another look at it.
Tennessee Highway Patrol Commissioner Dave Mitchell said a third woman contacted the department after seeing the story about Moss and Richert earlier this week.
"The allegations that have been brought to our attention by the other two individuals I would describe as very serious inappropriate unacceptable conduct," Mitchell said.
"We are also expanding this investigation by reviewing prior citations issued by Moss, the video camera in his vehicle. We are doing a comprehensive investigation into the conduct and activity of Trooper Moss," Mitchell said.
Moss has been a part of the department for 10 years. Mitchell said he doesn't know of any other possible victims, but investigators are going to examine Moss' past.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is also involved. Mitchell said investigators there are looking at the laptop computer from Moss's patrol car.
Mitchell said they have turned over their evidence to the Wilson County district attorney. Mitchell said that any other women who may have had inappropriate interaction with Moss should call 1-877-459-3038.
http://www.nbc5i.com/news/13372291/detail.html
Video
