The Lebanon Police Department found that a police officer had sexual relations with a grade school teacher in her classroom while he was on duty, and the officer resigned soon after.
The department report said that Brian Gilley, who had been assigned as a D.A.R.E. officer at Castle Heights Elementary School, initially denied having sex with teacher Shelby Moss but later confessed.
‘It was a mistake, and it will never happen again.’
The internal investigation found that the incident occurred in Sept. 2024, after hours on the school property. Gilley admitted that there might have been students on the campus at the time.
There is no bodycam footage of that incident, according to WZTV-TV.
However, the outlet obtained video from the body cam that captured some of his flirtatious conversation with the teacher. They also obtained screenshots of the texts that the officer and the teacher sent to each other but reported that “some are too salacious to show.”
The report said that the teacher was married at the time of the relationship.
Gilley had asked for leniency at a hearing in April.
“I know I’ve done wrong, but I’ve also impacted that community in so many ways,” Gilley said. “It was a mistake, and it will never happen again.”
The teacher was given a two-day suspension, and she resigned in May.
The incident was reported to the Tennessee State Board of Education, which will review for possible additional consequences.
“We need to make sure we’re reinforcing with parents that their child will be safe and protected and not exposed to bad situations,” said J.C. Bowman, the executive director of Professional Educators of Tennessee.
Lebanon Police Department Chief of Police Mike Justice released a statement about the incident.
“The policy violations also included being untruthful during the inquiry. These facts were presented during a POST decertification hearing. While Gilley’s actions did not align with our department’s standards or policies, the conduct was not criminal in nature, did NOT involve children, and did NOT occur in the presence of children or in the classroom,” Justice said in part.
Gilley is banned from working as an officer in Tennessee.
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