A former police officer in a southwestern Portland, Oregon, suburb is facing official misconduct and public indecency charges for crimes that allegedly happened while on-duty in 2019.
A Washington County grand jury indicted Chet Lemon on nine misdemeanor counts in July, although details of the case are surfacing now, KGW-TV reported.
Lemon, 37, had served as patrol officer and school resource officer with Tualatin police since 2008. He resigned in 2020 for a job as a police sergeant with King City.
Lemon started his new job in December 2020 and three days later, Tualatin police notified King City he was under criminal investigation.
Michael Weston, the city manager of King City, suggested that background and reference checks didn’t raise any red flags during Lemon’s recruitment or hiring.
On Dec. 11, King City placed Lemon on administrative leave. He was fired after the indictment came out.
Court records accuse Lemon of official misconduct and public indecency between January and August 2019. No other details were immediately available.
Lemon is pleading not guilty. KGW has requested comment from Lemon or his attorney.
