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An Upstate, South Carolina, whistleblower has uncovered a plethora of pornographic material exchanged by deputies of the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO).
On August 8, 2024, FITSNews was provided with 33 copies of electronic emails (.eml files) documenting all manner of explicit activity – including bestiality and photographed fellatio. According to a reverse email search, the obscenities were allegedly distributed by retired SCSO Sergeant Robert Allen Wood.
WARNING: THIS REPORT CONTAINS GRAPHIC SEXUAL CONTENT
A longtime member of SCSO’s Criminal Investigations Division (CID), Wood appears to have sent his coworkers hardcore pornography on multiple occasions between at least 2007 and 2008. A total of 57 photos, four videos and two external links were shared during this timeframe.
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“NICE GUY”
While Wood was allegedly sending the aforementioned content from his personal email, metadata has since revealed that he was doing so from his government computer. Digital property furthermore suggests that he was watching pornography as early as 7:55 a.m. on weekdays.
Under the alias “Nice Guy,” Wood allegedly sent files depicting bestiality involving a horse at 2:44 p.m. on a Monday, Girls Gone Wild: Best Breasts Ever at 10:42 a.m. on a Tuesday, 12 voyeuristic images at 2:41 p.m. on a Wednesday and one vaginal fisting video at 11:40 a.m. on a Thursday.
Often buddied with misleading subject lines and lighthearted email bodies, the sergeant’s distribution listed included at least 10 CID members, three Special Services Division (SSD) members, and at least one Spartanburg County Coroner’s Office employee, among others.
“I remember those emails,” said a former sheriff’s office supervisor. “I just remember looking at the content and going, damn, these boys are playing with fire… We knew it was coming through the county email system. And we eventually determined it was Allen Wood.”
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? #BREAKING: Whistleblowers have provided @FITSNews with official emails indicating that a veteran Sergeant of the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office (#SCSO) remains unpunished for sharing pornography during work hours.
— Andrew Fancher (@RealAndyFancher) August 29, 2024
While the deputy retired in November 2023, metadata has… pic.twitter.com/mSTeG5lQUC
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After sending an average of 1.3 sexually explicit emails per month, Wood appears to have concluded his offerings with a 30-second lesbian sex montage on October 2, 2008. Ten months later, his unrelated law enforcement efforts were featured on Investigation Discovery (ID).
Wood went on to appear in one episode of the network’s Disappeared series in 2010, followed by an additional feature with veteran journalist Paula Zahn in 2013. Wood’s successes were furthermore featured in a Discovery+ docuseries in August 2017.
Come November 2023, the deputy retired from law enforcement after 40 years at SCSO–raising the question of whether he was allowed to share graphic pornography from Spartanburg County’s IP address during business hours.
In response, FITSNews requested both a comment and a copy of the department’s policy and procedures from SCSO Public Information Officer Kevin Bobo. The lieutenant received at least six sexually explicit emails from Wood during the aforementioned timeframe.
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WHERE IS SHERIFF WRIGHT?
“None of us have any recollection of what you are referring to,” wrote Bobo in a rare email response to the author on August 14, 2024. “Our Chief Deputy has researched retired deputy Wood’s personnel file, but there’s no documentation about the alleged incident.”
FITSNews has since deployed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for SCSO’s publicly inaccessible department policy and procedures.
“This is not a black eye that law enforcement deserves,” continued a former sheriff’s office supervisor. “A majority of the boys on Sgt. Wood’s email list were good dudes… all I can say is that this sets a precedence of Sheriff Wright having no damn control over his people.”
First elected in 2004, sheriff Charles “Chuck” Wright, Jr., remains under investigation by the S.C. State Ethics Commission (SCSEC) for personally deputizing his scandal-scarred son, Jared “Andy” Wright, during a ceremony at SCSO headquarters on July 1, 2024.
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RELATED | ETHICS COMMISSION LAUNCHES INVESTIGATION INTO SHERIFF
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FITSNews first reported on Sheriff Wright’s nepotistic hire within days of Kyle Joslin reporting the same incident to state employees. FITSNews then reported on Joslin’s receipt of a SCSEC letter confirming he had provided sufficient evidence to warrant an investigation.
“The truth of the matter is, Sheriff Wright has done too much for too long,” concluded a former sheriff’s office supervisor. “People are starting to get tired of his threats and his intimidation. The boy’s a consistent piece of sh*t, and his people are starting to come around to that.”
Sheriff Wright has yet to respond to multiple requests for comment relating to both his SCSEC investigation and his department’s purported proliferation of hardcore pornography.
In February 2017, SCSO Sergeant Chris Wilbanks was arrested by federal agents for coercing an 11-year-old into sending him nude pictures while on duty. He was thereupon sentenced to nine years in federal prison for sexual exploitation of a minor.
Reverse IP address and reverse email search performed by L.E. Private Investigations.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Andrew Fancher is a Lone Star Emmy award-winning journalist from Dallas, Texas. Cut from a bloodline of outlaws and lawmen alike, he was the first of his family to graduate college which was accomplished with honors. Got a story idea or news tip for Andy? Email him directly and connect with him socially across Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
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5 comments
The true character of a man or woman will eventually be revealed. No sin remains hidden forever. We should encourage God-fearing men and women to run for offices (in this case sheriff) and then we should vote for them. I wonder how these men would feel if it were their daughters or nieces caught up in porn. What kind of man do we want our children to see. Maybe I’m too old fashioned, but it seems that the more I see of this world, the more I believe in a Savior.
OK, this is conduct is obviously wrong, and you can’t help but wonder why anyone thinks they can do this on government computers, but the article says this happened between 2007 and 2008. Sixteen years ago. And the Deputy in question retired in 2023. So he is beyond being punished or held accountable if that is the intention. But there is no mention of any of this conduct after 2008, which begs the question: did this guy get a “talkin’ to” or come to Jesus and then stopped the offending conduct? Seems like someone just wants to throw some dirt on the Sherriff (whom I am not defending) and dug up some OLD dirt – and possibly at the expense of a guy who corrected his ways and maybe deserves a little grace if that is the case.
“Deputy retired in November 2023”
Early 2023 Spartanburg county government computer systems were hit with a ransomware attack.
Most county offices were back on line in short order…
except for the sheriff’s office, which a year after the breech, was still blaming the ransomware attack for why the site wasn’t functional.
Seemed odd that that ONE agency some how couldn’t get back online and keep the web site running. Now I wonder if it somehow connected to this story. Did the ransomware attack bring some of this disgustingness to light? Did it provide a convenient opportunity to keep things offline while they were “cleaned up?”
Even now, the sheriff’s office uses a http (not https) address on their web site, and has not updated the site or gotten it running right.
“Seems like someone just wants to throw some dirt on the Sherriff (whom I am not defending) and dug up some OLD dirt – and possibly at the expense of a guy who corrected his ways and maybe deserves a little grace if that is the case.”
“Corrected his ways”? Is private company, the “guy” would’ve been fired. How about, why didn’t a supervisor put an end to this behavior?
Maybe it was back in 2008, but that still doesn’t make it right or acceptable.
I agree with those who noted that this was way back in 2008. It is water under the bridge. Who cares?
Yeah, Sheriff Wright appears to be a tyrant, with his annual “civil asset forfeiture” festivals and the like, but this seems a chickensh-t way to go after him. He deserves to be taken down, but not by the ancient antics of a former employee that hurt no one.
Back in the 1970’s, the city police in my hometown had a “f–k book drawer” in the dispatchers desk. I worked at another department and when I bought and finished reading a new Hustler, I donated it to their drawer. Midnight shifts on dispatch were kinda boring in those days. The articles, cartoons, and off-color jokes, helped one to stay awake at night and provided much needed laughter. It was no big deal back then. Today should be no different.