Second woman comes forward, accuses deputy of sexual harassment

WARNING: Please be advised that the article below contains disturbing and explicit language, much of it sexual in nature. While most of the mainstream media will likely not report on the explicits once they hear about today's filing, I feel it is important to relay the full and uncensored – albeit disturbing – details of this story.


Another victim of domestic assault is accusing Iredell County Sheriff's Deputy Ben Jenkins of sexually harassing and stalking her at a time when she needed law-enforcement protection the most.

Lisa Mangiardi - an Asheville resident and former criminal court mediator at the Iredell County Courthouse - added her name to a sexual-harassment lawsuit originally filed March 21 by Kannapolis resident Suzanne Wick. The updated lawsuit, which lists both Jenkins and Sheriff Phil Redmond as defendants, was filed late this afternoon in Iredell County Superior Court by Charlotte Attorney Joshua Van Kampen.

Mangiardi came forward after hearing of Wick's lawsuit against Jenkins and Redmond. “Lisa has been filled with misplaced guilt that Defendant Jenkins might not have been in a position to abuse Suzanne had Lisa complained earlier,” states the suit.

Wick and Mangiardi are seeking more than $10,000 in damages. 

Mangiardi, who has a masters degree in education, was hired as a part-time criminal court mediator at the Iredell County courthouse in or around September 2007. She started working full-time about a year later.

“Tellingly, it was not until Defendant Jenkins learned that Lisa was a domestic violence victim that he started to stalk and sexually harass her,” the suit reads. “She had worked in the courthouse for months before filing domestic violence charges and Defendant Jenkins had not pursued her.

“Sadly, based on Lisa and Suzanne's experiences, defendant Jenkins deliberately targets domestic violence victims because they are desperate and more vulnerable to abuse.”

Mangiardi says she turned to the Iredell County Sheriff's Office because her ex-husband was physically abusive toward her and their two children. On May 28, 2008, things turned especially violent when he “went on a rant while walking around with a knife in his back pocket,” the suit reads.

It says Mangiardi's ex-husband “threatened that he would make Lisa suffer long, painfully and slowly and that he would … end it for everyone.” Later that day, Mangiardi's ex-husband – still with the knife in his pocket – said “if he was going to pay then everyone would pay,” the lawsuit reads.

The following day, Mangiardi sought help from the Iredell County Sheriff's Office's Special Victims Unit; Detective Ernie Line – who, according to the lawsuit, was Jenkins' partner at the time – was assigned to the case.

A temporary restraining order (TRO) was issued against Mangiardi's ex-husband on May 29, 2008, and he was arrested on charges of assault on a female and communicating threats. “On June 8, 2008, the Court entered a Memorandum of Judgment," the suit states.

It says it was at that time that Mangiardi officially met Jenkins: “It appeared to Lisa at first that Defendant Jenkins was genuinely offering his support and assistance, and she needed that."


But things changed on or about June 14, 2008, when Mangiardi's ex-husband unexpectedly showed up at her house. Mangiardi believed the visit was in violation of the protective order, the suit states, and she was "confused about whether the TRO was still in place and the extent of protection from contact she had under the Memorandum of Judgment.”

At that time, according to the lawsuit, Jenkins told Mangiardi that “she should call him personally if the ex-husband came to the house again.

“He also encouraged her to meet him at the Sheriff's Domestic Violence Unit so that he could review the Memorandum of Judgment and see what he could do to help her.”

Mangiardi met with Jenkins at the sheriff's office, as the then-detective requested. It was after 5 p.m., so the sheriff's office was “relatively empty,” the suit reads.

“Defendant Jenkins escorted Lisa to an office and closed both doors, which left both of them alone. After closing the doors, Jenkins began grinding his hips and telling her, 'don't you want this,'” the suit states. “Lisa was shocked, but firmly told Defendant Jenkins that she was not interested.

“Jenkins sat down at his desk and continued gyrating in his seat, while trying to persuade Lisa to have sex with him and that no one would have to know,” the suit continues. “At one point, Jenkins also grabbed his penis and shook it, again suggesting that Lisa 'wanted this.'

Deputy Ben Jenkins

“With the doors closed, and Defendant Jenkins' status in the Domestic Violence Unit, not to mention the gun on his hip, Lisa did not feel free to go until Defendant Jenkins dismissed her,” the suit reads.

Mangiardi, like Wick, says Jenkins also stalked her: “He often reported knowing her location or inquired why she was here or there. He told her that he had been outside her house,” the lawsuit states. “Defendent Jenkins also acted very jealous and angrily accused Lisa of 'fucking' other men.”

While Mangiardi was working at the courthouse, she would routinely see Jenkins there. “During these times … Jenkins routinely simulated oral sex in Lisa's direction by pressing his tongue to his cheek and using his hand to simulate a penis entering his mouth,” the suit reads. “While doing the gesture, he would solicit Lisa for sex.

“On many other occasions, he put two fingers in a 'V' shape to his mouth and flickered his tongue simulating oral sex on a woman, while again soliciting her for sex,” it continues. “On at least one occasion in the courthouse, Defendant Jenkins also grabbed his penis and shook it, while coaxing Lisa about 'how badly she knew she wanted it'.”

The suit says Jenkins – through May 2009 – made unwelcome comments to Mangiardi, such as, “can I put my hands up your skirt?,” “just let me get a feel,” “give me a piece of that ass,” “everyone needs a friend with benefits,” “you're making me so horny,” and “I know you want it; come on, no one will ever know.”

The suit states that “several other sexual harassment incidents occurred at a Mexican restaurant near the courthouse.” There, Jenkins – often accompanied by Ernie Line - “would invite themselves to the table where Lisa was eating," the suit states. 

Jenkins would “relentlessly (tell) Lisa all the reasons why she should have sex with him. On several occasions, he also pressed his body against hers in the booth or table," it reads.

“Lisa eventually stopped eating there to avoid Defendant Jenkins.”

The lawsuit says the incidents also occurred outside the courthouse and around neighboring buildings: “On or about May 11 or 12, 2009, Defendant Jenkins gave Lisa a 'hug' for Mother's Day in an area outside the courthouse that included slipping his hands down the backside of Lisa's skirt.”

Also that month, Mangiardi says Jenkins saw her in a conference room at the Iredell County Jail while she was there for a mediation. “He stopped in the doorway and grabbed his penis and motioned with his other hand that she should call him,” the suit states.

During the time of the alleged harassment, Mangiardi “suffered extreme anxiety and depression and was diagnosed with PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder)," according to the lawsuit.

“As a single mother of four and already deathly afraid of her ex-husband, Lisa feared she could not afford the risk of reporting Defendant Jenkins,” the suit states. “Instead, she put her head down and suffered through, so she could support her family and be safe.”

But once Mangiardi read of Wick's lawsuit, she decided to come forward. The lawsuit says that Mangiardi felt guilty about what happened to Wick because she feels she could have possibly prevented it from happening if she had complained earlier. “In reality,” states the suit, “given Defendant Redmond's woeful track record of holding his deputies accountable, it's at least as likely that Defendant Redmond would not have taken effective remedial action even had she complained.”

Iredell County Sheriff Phil Redmond

Jenkins' alleged harassment of Mangiardi ended in May 2009. Interestingly, Suzanne Wick says he began harassing her in February or March of that same year.

Jenkins, 45, began working for the sheriff's office in August 2002 and was demoted from his position as detective in 2009 after Wick complained of his sexual advances.


Redmond is named in the women's lawsuit for neglecting to act on Wick's information and complaints against Jenkins.

One week after Redmond was most recently re-elected as Iredell County's sheriff, Jenkins began being promoted, from jailer back to deputy sheriff in November 2010. He was promoted back to detective on Nov. 7, 2011. But just two weeks after he was promoted, on Nov. 23, 2011, he was demoted back to deputy sheriff.

He is currently a road patrolman, making $38,972.04 a year.

Senate race heats up as MI Connection takes center stage

If the government owns the media, how does it stay neutral when it comes to political advertisements?

That was one of many concerns raised in 2006 when the towns of Mooresville and Davidson were considering the purchase of the bankrupt Adelphia cable television system.

And the issue reared its head this week when Karen Ray – seeking the 44th District N.C. Senate seat – suggested in a news release that the towns' $92.5 million cable company, now MI Connection, and its marketing partner, ViaMedia, refused to run her campaign ad because it is critical of her opponent, Chris Carney, who voted to purchase the cable system as a Mooresville commissioner in 2007.

The ad, called “Just Like Obama,” criticizes Carney for favoring big business and government bailouts.

“MI Connection, through its partner ViaMedia, had been airing a Karen Ray ad titled 'Fighter' for the past three weeks without issue,” Ray's release stated. “As of midnight Thursday, MI-Connection stopped airing all advertisements bought and paid for by the Ray campaign.The cable company ignored repeated demands on Friday to air the ad.”

“This is America,” said Ray, who also threatened legal action against MI Connection. “Candidates have the right to take issue with their opponents’ actions. MI Connection’s censorship of my campaign is a very serious matter. They are only in business because of taxpayers’ money, and now they are violating my First Amendment Rights because they don’t agree with me.”

MI Connection CEO David Auger said it isn't political. It's simply a matter of company policy:

“ViaMedia, the agency that handles advertising sales for MI Connection, had been running a political ad placed by Ms. Ray for at least a couple of weeks,” he said. “Late last week, she submitted a new copy to replace the old ad. The ad was forwarded by ViaMedia to their legal and management team for review.”

All “spots” - political or not – are reviewed in ViaMedia's corporate office prior to airing, said Auger. Political ads in particular, he said, are “flagged” if they are slanderous/libelous or inaccurate. Ray's ad is inaccurate because it says the cable system cost the towns $96 million instead of $92.5 million, said Auger.

“If a political advertisement falls into one of these two categories, it is forwarded to corporate (ViaMedia) legal counsel,” he added. “If legal deems the ad inappropriate, the CEO of MI Connection (or the equivalent in the other operations that they represent) is contacted and reviews the ad. At that point, a decision is reached and the candidate placing the ad is contacted.

“This policy is similar to the policies I've had in place at the media properties I've managed previously (cable systems and a newspaper),” Auger said.

He said as of close of business on Friday, Ray's ad was still being reviewed by legal counsel.

While ViaMedia was reviewing the ad, Auger said the company “offered to run the old ad.” However, he said, Ray's campaign replied “'absolutely not'.”

“I became aware of the situation Monday, April 23 at 9:24 a.m. when one of the newspapers forwarded to me a copy of Ms. Ray's press release,” Auger said. “I reviewed the ad, noted the inaccuracies, and ordered it to be aired.”

The ad started airing Monday.

Auger said he called Ray and left her a voicemail on Monday morning. But “as of 3:27 p.m. April 24, she has not returned my call,” he said.

Ray, in her news release, also states that she was troubled by an e-mail forwarded by ViaMedia to her campaign that calls Carney “an executive with MI-Connection.”

“We were unaware of his position, given that Chris has not disclosed his association with the State Ethics Commission,” Ray said. “I have instructed my elections law attorney to begin preparing the necessary documentation for a formal complaint to be filed with that board.”

Carney was quick to point out that the assertion is untrue: “I can't help what a third-party puts in e-mails,” he said. “But Ms. Ray's campaign could have simply considered its source and performed a quick fact-check that would have revealed I am not on MI Connection's payroll, nor have I ever been an executive of the company or been involved in any of its decision-making.”

Instead, he said, “Ms. Ray and her campaign were content to take an unfounded and untrue statement by an uninformed third party and send it, as it was truth, to every news outlet in this area.”

“I think Ms. Ray's actions speak for themselves, and voters are smart enough to see that if a candidate is willing to be so careless as to take something someone says as truth without first checking her facts, we don't want her making laws for us in Raleigh.”

While ViaMedia representatives did not respond to Report e-mails this week, asking why they would call Carney an executive with MI-Connection, David Auger said, “Chris Carney is not an employee or executive of MI Connection, and he has never been on the MI Connection payroll.”

Carney is currently serving as senator after being appointed in December to fulfill the term of the late Jim Forrester. He, Ray and David Curtis – all Republicans – will face off in the May 8 primary. The top vote getter will then face a Democratic challenger in November.

The Report is now on Facebook

In case you missed it, the Report is now on Facebook!

If you are not signed up on Facebook, no worries - articles will continue to be posted here. We anticipate the Report's Facebook page will be simply an extension of what is posted here, including a "clearinghouse" of sorts for local and regional news links and, of course, a place to discuss issues that matter to Iredell County residents.

If you are on Facebook, we invite you to join our page and contribute to upcoming discussions by clicking here.

See you there!

Welcome home, hero.

With big escort, wounded Marine is coming home

By: JESSICA OSBORNE | Mooresville Tribune 

Published: April 17, 2012

Garrett Carnes is coming home.

More than 200 Patriot Guard motorcycle riders from North Carolina and Virginia are expected to escort the wounded Marine Corps corporal from Bethesda, Md. to Mooresville on Friday, as he comes home for the first time since being seriously injured in Afghanistan.

After his arrival downtown at the Charles Mack Citizen Center, estimated at about 6 p.m., there will be a welcoming ceremony and remarks by local dignitaries.

Carnes, a 2008 graduate of Mooresville High School, lost parts of both of his legs to an IED explosion during a military clean-up operation in Afghanistan in February. 

To read the rest of this article - including the town's plans to welcome Carnes home on Friday - click here: Mooresville Tribune.

Sheriff's office politics protect a select few

Are the rules the same for all employees of Iredell County Sheriff Phil Redmond?

It is becoming increasingly clear that the answer to that question is no.

Deputy Ben Jenkins, as of this week, is still actively employed by the Iredell County Sheriff's Office, despite being sued on March 21 by a Kannapolis woman for sexual harassment and stalking.

Suzanne Wick, who had turned to the sheriff's office for help and protection against a physically abusive husband, states in her lawsuit that Jenkins – a detective in the sheriff's Domestic Violence Unit at that time – sexually harassed her, stalked her and threatened to drop charges against her abusive husband if she did not respond to Jenkins' sexual advances. Read the entire story here.

But in 2010, the sheriff fired and charged one of his own deputies the very night the deputy's girlfriend accused him of abusing her while he was off-duty at home. The deputy, Dennis Huffstickler, was later cleared by the courts of any wrongdoing.

Huffstickler said the top brass at the sheriff's office indicated he was being fired because the incident took place during an election year, in 2010. Not only did Huffstickler lose his job, he spent 48 hours in an isolation jail cell in another county. He also lost his law enforcement certification when the sheriff decided not to hold it for him – even after he was found not-guilty – which means he cannot practice law enforcement until he completes Basic Law Enforcement Training again.

Huffstickler said he would find out, by the time the 2010 election was over, just how political his firing really was.

It was Jan. 16, 2010 – just a few months shy of the primary to elect the Republican candidate for Iredell County's sheriff. Phil Redmond was running for his fourth term.

In a handwritten statement provided to the Report, Huffstickler said he and his girlfriend were arguing at his home, and he was trying to remove their son from the volatile situation. “She had been drinking,” Huffstickler recalled. “We were going to go away until she was sober.”

But when he took their son to the car, Huffstickler said his girlfriend hit him on the head with a video camera, took their son out of his car seat and locked herself in the bathroom at Huffstickler's home. He said at that point, his girlfriend called 911 and started kicking the door to make noise. “I heard her tell the operator she needed help,” Huffstickler said. “She told them I was trying to kill her and her baby.”

After an argument earlier that month, Huffstickler said he approached a lieutenant at the sheriff's office and confided in him about the situation: “I wanted to have (my girlfriend) removed from my home without getting law enforcement involved,” Huffstickler said. “I did not want to do anything to embarrass the sheriff's office.”

Huffstickler called that lieutenant while his girlfriend was on the phone with 911. “He told me to go outside and wait for the sheriff's office,” Huffstickler recalled. “I went outside and waited. I never put a hand on her.”

Huffstickler said that Deputy Gene Hayes, Lt. Mike Bova and Sgt. Atley Brown arrived at his home. “There may have been others,” he said. “Bova told my mother that nobody was going to be arrested that night.”

Huffstickler said Bova told him that “all of us were going to the sheriff's office and we were going to talk with Chief (Rick) Dowdle and Capt. Harold Miller.”

He said neither he nor his girlfriend were handcuffed while they were transported to the sheriff's office in separate cars. Huffstickler said he rode in the front passenger's seat of Sgt. Brown's vehicle.

“When we got to the sheriff's office, we were placed in interview rooms alone,” Huffstickler recalled. He said he completed a statement and gave it to Hayes.

Huffstickler said that about 45 minutes later, Deputy Hayes informed him that his girlfriend had been charged after blowing a .16 on an intoxilyzer test.

“Gene Hayes walked me over to Capt. Miller's office,” Huffstickler recalled. “When I walked in the room, Capt. Miller said, 'I'm not going to sugarcoat it. Your services are no longer needed at the sheriff's office.” Huffstickler said at least two other sheriff's office employees were present in the room.

Huffstickler said he asked Miller if he was interested in his side of the story. “Capt. Miller said, 'I will put it to you like this: it is an election year,'” Huffstickler recalled.

Miller retired from the sheriff's office just two weeks ago.

After Miller told Huffstickler he was fired, he also informed him that he was being charged. “Capt. Miller told me I was being escorted to Davie County Correction Center and that I was being charged with assault on a female,” Huffstickler said.

“I thanked Capt. Miller for the opportunity to work there. I kept thinking to myself that they would find out the truth. I thought I would be back at work when they did.

“I went to Davie County and was placed in an isolation cell,” Huffstickler said. “I was there 48 hours.”

He said Iredell County Lt. Guy Jenkins picked him up from Davie County and transported him back to the magistrate's office in Statesville.

Huffstickler later obtained a protective order against his girlfriend.

“I called the sheriff's office numerous times,” he said. During one of those calls, he said he told Capt. Darren Campbell to interview his girlfriend and that she would confess that Huffstickler did not assault her.

“Nobody ever did anything,” Huffstickler said.

Still, the State Bureau of Investigation was called in: “I was contacted by an agent named Renee,” Huffstickler said. “She asked if I would agree to an interview. I told her yes. Renee and another agent met me at my house, and I completed a one-hour interview with them.

“Several months later, my case went to court in front of Judge Debra Brown,” Huffstickler recalled. “The court found me to be not guilty.”

Feeling that he had been betrayed by the Iredell County Sheriff's Office, Huffstickler said he had no interest in working for Redmond again. However, he hoped the sheriff would agree to hold his certification so he could find a job in law enforcement somewhere else.

For law-enforcement officers to be hired, their certification must be held by an approved agency. If within one year the officers do not find an agency willing to hold their certifications, they have to start over with Basic Law Enforcement Training if they decide to enter the law-enforcement profession again.

Shortly after Huffstickler was cleared by the court, the former deputy ran into the sheriff at a grocery store. “He was at Food Lion on Wilkesboro Highway,” Huffstickler recalled. “I asked the sheriff if he would be willing to hold my certification since I was found not guilty.

“He said yes and told me to contact Capt. Marty Byers.” Byers, at that time, supervised personnel at the sheriff's office.

By this time, Redmond had won the county's Republican primary and was facing a Democratic challenger in the November 2010 general election.

Huffstickler said before he was able to reach Byers – and a couple days after the grocery-store encounter with Redmond – Capt. Darren Campbell and Lt. Andy Poteat visited him at his home. “It was about 4 or 5 p.m.; they were riding in a pick-up truck,” Huffstickler recalled. “Darren told me the sheriff had said what a good officer I was and how much they needed me. Darren asked me when I wanted to come back to work.

“I told him I could not work for a man that treated me the way (Redmond) did,” Huffstickler recalled.

“Darren said there was nothing they could have done because the SBI had gotten involved.”

Huffstickler said he reiterated to Campbell that he had no interest in returning to the Iredell County Sheriff's Office. “I said I only wanted my certification held,” he recalled.

Huffstickler could not have anticipated what came next: “Darren asked if I wanted a 'Re-elect Phil Redmond' sign in my yard,” Huffstickler recalled. “He had a sign in his truck.”

Huffstickler declined: “I told him to hang on to the sign.”

It appears that decision sealed Huffstickler's fate: “When I finally spoke with Marty Byers, he told me Sheriff Redmond had told him he did not intend to hold my certification.”

Soon thereafter, a comment appeared in The Gatton Report, detailing Huffstickler's visit from Campbell and Poteat. “I was still wanting my certification held because it was about to run out, so I called Darren Campbell,” Huffstickler recalled in his statement provided to the Report. “Darren said he did not want to talk to me. He accused me of talking to Jaime Gatton. He asked me who I had talked to and told about the visit he made.

“I told him I had confided in a friend,” Huffstickler said. “He asked who it was, but I would not tell him.

“Darren said if I scratched his back, he would scratch mine. He said he would talk to the sheriff and told me to think about it,” Huffsticker said. “I never heard anything from him.

“My certification ran out on Jan. 16, 2011.”

Huffstickler said while the sheriff's office fought his unemployment-benefits claim, the Employment Security Commission sided with the fired deputy and awarded him unemployment benefits.

Campbell has not responded to a Report e-mail this week, asking to clarify his back-scratching statement and if his visit to Huffstickler's home with Redmond's campaign sign was a “quid pro quo.”

Redmond also did not respond to a Report e-mail, asking if he decided not to hold Huffstickler's certification as a result of Huffstickler refusing to support the sheriff's reelection bid by placing a campaign sign in his yard. The Report also asked the sheriff how he justifies retaining some accused employees but firing others. He did not respond.

The stories of Huffstickler and Jenkins are parallel in some ways and vastly different in others. Let's review:

Huffstickler was off-duty when his girlfriend accused him of assaulting her. Jenkins is being sued for sexually harassing a woman in his capacity as a detective with the Iredell County Sheriff's Office's Domestic Violence Unit.

The SBI was called in to investigate Huffstickler. To date, it appears no one has asked the SBI to investigate the potentially criminal allegations made in the lawsuit against Jenkins.

Huffstickler was cleared of wrongdoing by the courts after his girlfriend admitted she had made up the allegations against him. The jury is still out on Jenkins. Wick's attorney, Joshua Van Kampen of Charlotte, filed the lawsuit against Jenkins and Sheriff Phil Redmond – stating Redmond neglected to act on Wick's complaints of sexual harassment – on March 21. The sheriff's office has 30 days from the date of that filing to respond.

Huffstickler's incident took place during an election year. Jenkins was sued while Redmond still has two years left in his term.

Huffstickler lost his job immediately. The sheriff's office charged him with assault and took him to a Davie County jail cell where he was locked up for 48 hours in isolation. The sheriff also refused to hold Huffstickler's certification, even after the former deputy was proven innocent of the charges against him.

Jenkins, on the other hand, is still actively employed at the sheriff's office, and “nothing has been received in HR advising us he has been suspended,” Iredell County Human Resources Director Sandra Gregory said this week, responding to Report questions.


According to his public personnel information, Jenkins was demoted from detective to jailer shortly after Wick says she complained to the sheriff's office about Jenkins' misconduct in 2009. Interestingly, however, just eight days after Redmond secured his November 2010 re-election, he began promoting Jenkins, from jailer to deputy sheriff, then one year later, from deputy to detective. But after just two weeks back as a detective in November 2011, Jenkins was demoted once again to deputy sheriff.

So, what gives? Why are the “rules” bent for some and strictly enforced on others? And what exactly are the rules? Are the sheriff's standards determined by election cycles?

Why was Huffstickler fired because of an accusation but Jenkins remains actively employed? Why is another deputy, Tommy Adams, still employed by the sheriff's office – albeit on unpaid leave – following a grand-jury indictment of obstruction of justice in December 2010?

Why did the sheriff's office leave Huffstickler locked up in a jail cell for 48 hours but continued to pay Adams' public cell phone for four months after he was indicted and then suspended from the sheriff's office?

And perhaps most important: What kind of environment does Sheriff Phil Redmond's selective leniency create for the other deputies currently working for him? What kind of message does this send to them?