Sergeant who blew whistle on detective plans to sue Clackamas County

The Clackamas County sheriff's sergeant who blew the whistle on a detective's history of ignoring rape and child sex abuse allegations has indicated that he plans to sue the county for alleged retaliation.

A lawyer representing Sgt. Matt Swanson sent the county a letter last week requesting that officials preserve documents related to disgraced former Detective Jeff Green and records that discuss promotion or discipline of Swanson.

The attorney also asked for documents pertaining to any internal investigations into the sergeant.

Swanson's lawyer, Randy Harvey, said the sergeant will claim "harassment, hostile work environment, discrimination and retaliation."

Harvey declined further comment.

The letter was addressed to Steven Madkour, county counsel, and Kim Ybarra, a lawyer who works as a senior policy adviser for the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office.

Harvey asked them to preserve complaints filed against Swanson, as well as any communication among county employees regarding the sergeant.

"As you know, such electronic information can easily be inadvertently destroyed and the failure to take reasonable measures to preserve it pending the completion of discovery can result in sanctions being imposed on you or your client," Harvey wrote.

Sheriff Craig Roberts on Tuesday said his agency has a "clear and unambiguous policy" prohibiting retaliation against employees who raise concerns. Roberts said he can't directly address Swanson's concerns because the letter doesn't specify acts of retaliation against Swanson.

"However, I can tell you that with respect to the Detective Green matter, I met with Sergeant Swanson and personally thanked him for holding Green accountable," Roberts wrote in a statement issued to The Oregonian/OregonLive. "I told him he did exactly what I expect my sergeants to do."

Roberts said he asked Swanson to alert him if he experienced retaliation.

"I will be very disappointed if members of this agency retaliated in any way against Sergeant Swanson," the sheriff wrote.

Swanson has said he was harassed, mocked and discouraged from pursuing the complaint against Green. He also has accused agency commanders of deceiving the public about how they handled the matter.

Though others in the agency were aware of Green's history of poor performance, Swanson repeatedly pressed top supervisors to launch an internal affairs investigation into the detective.

Green pleaded guilty in July to two misdemeanors for failing to investigate reports of child abuse. He retired in 2015.

The threat of a whistleblower suit is the latest fallout from the Sheriff's Office's handling of the misconduct.

The case prompted county commissioners to hire outside law enforcement consultants to review the Sheriff's Office. That wide-ranging review is expected to wrap up by year's end.

Last month, Green's shoddy work became a central issue in a 6-year-old sexual assault case. It was the only case that authorities have managed to salvage from dozens that Green largely ignored.

The case hit a roadblock and was delayed until next year; the judge and prosecutor faulted Green for problems with the case.

-- Noelle Crombie

ncrombie@oregonian.com

503-276-7184

@noellecrombie

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