DETROIT (WXYZ) — As Wayne County Sheriff Raphael “Ray” Washington seeks a full-term as the county’s top cop, he is sidestepping new questions over allegations of harassment made throughout his law enforcement career.
The investigations into the claims, made by four different women over a 14-year period, were not conclusive. Washington denied all of the allegations when they were made and, today, declined requests for an interview with 7 Action News about them.
A law enforcement veteran, Washington was appointed sheriff following Benny Napoleon’s 2020 death from COVID-19.
RELATED: Raphael Washington selected as next Wayne County Sheriff
A three-person panel chose Washington over 13 other candidates, with Prosecutor Kym Worthy and Clerk Cathy Garrett voting to appoint Washington. Judge Freddie Burton abstained.
Only one of the claims against Washington has previously been reported: a 2016 lawsuit filed by a female sheriff’s office employee who claimed he repeatedly asked her for massages at work.
The woman supplied screen shots of text messages that reportedly show Washington requesting a massage at work.
The county settled the case along with a related claim against another sheriff’s employee, admitting no wrongdoing and paying $85,000.
Washington denied the allegations. His accuser still works for the sheriff’s office.
Complaint made, then withdrawn
In 2010, a different female Wayne County sheriff’s employee filed a harassment claim against Washington, who was then a chief. In her complaint, she wrote that he “persistently” asked her out on a date during an off-site party even though he knew she was married.
Washington was interviewed about the claim by internal affairs and, during a recorded interview, denied the allegation.
“Why do you think she’d make this claim then?” asked an executive lieutenant investigating the case.
“I have no idea,” Washington responded. “As far as I was concerned, she was a friend of mine.”
After filing the complaint, the female employee would withdraw it, saying it was not necessary but still standing by her allegation. She continued working for the sheriff.
Unwanted touching allegation
Two years before that while he worked for the Detroit Police Department, the girlfriend of a DPD officer came to visit her boyfriend at work, where she said she ran into Washington.
According to an internal affairs investigation, she said she had met him a year earlier after reporting a domestic altercation involving her same boyfriend, who Washington supervised.
She said they had also seen each other at social events, like the Detroit Auto Show Charity Preview.
On the day in question, she said she waiting to see her boyfriend in an office inside DPD’s traffic enforcement unit.
She said that while she was alone in a room with Washington, he commented on her skirt and told her “over and over again” that she “looked good.”
After that, she said Washington placed his hand on her leg, later moving it up to her thigh. She said Washington asked to see her panties and asked her to bend over. She refused.
When internal affairs investigated, Washington denied all of her claims and, with no witnesses present, the allegation was not sustained.
It was referred to prosecutor Kym Worthy’s office, who declined to bring charges.
‘Washington was lying’
The earliest documented complaint against Washington happened in December 2002 in a Southfield neighborhood just before midnight.
Unlike the prior complaints, this one involved a former member of Washington’s family.
According to an internal affairs investigation, Southfield Police were called to a home on Avon Street at 11:16 PM, after a neighbor called 911. He said he saw a man “acting suspiciously in the neighborhood.”
When police responded, they found Washington wearing a “Detroit Police Department jacket, black pants, black knit cap and black shoes.”
He told officers he was there on a jog but wasn’t wearing jogging clothes.
Southfield police “felt…Washington was lying,” according to the investigation, and called in a K-9 unit who tracked his scent to the back entrance a home where they also found a fresh footprint in the snow.
That home belonged to Washington’s ex-wife.
She would accuse him of “peeping in the windows,” according to the investigation, and told police she wanted to pursue criminal and departmental charges.
She said after the incident happened, Washington was “abusive, screaming at her and cursing.” But later on, after agreeing to give a statement to internal affairs, she never showed up for her interview.
Washington was charged internally with conduct unbecoming an officer and making a false statement. But when the case was referred for discipline, he was found not guilty. No reason was documented.
‘Rumor and innuendo’
7 Action News shared copies of these investigations with Sheriff Washington and asked him to give his side to any of the claims made. Through the Sheriff’s office and his campaign, he declined.
Instead, his campaign released a statement that says: "The Retain Raphael Washington for Wayne County Sheriff Campaign does not respond to rumor and innuendo tossed about in a heated campaign season - particularly after they have been investigated by impartial parties as far back as nearly two decades ago, concluding there was never any cause for any actions to be taken.”
Contact 7 Investigator Ross Jones at ross.jones@wxyz.com or at (248) 827-9466.