UPDATE: Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Neil has released a statement in the aftermath of Charmaine McGuffey's morning news conference, saying:
"Some serious allegations were brought to my attention. We police ourselves of any wrongdoing. Throughout the course of a very thorough investigation these allegations were substantiated. Based on those findings, which Major McGuffey gave to certain media outlets, and the unanimous recommendations of both our Internal Affairs Unit and legal advisors it was determined we could not allow Charmaine to remain in a management position. However, during her time here Charmaine excelled at working with outside agencies to provide treatment and programming in our jail. With that in mind I decided to offer her a post retirement position as Program Coordinator so she could continue her work. I look forward to speaking with her and hear her decision."
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ORIGINAL STORY:
( CINCINNATI, OH ) -- She's now a former Major with the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department. Charmaine McGuffey was demoted after she was accused of using bully tactics and favoritism in her position. She is now no longer in charge of the county jail and was stripped of her rank.
McGuffey says the allegations are false and calls it a "witch hunt". She says she believes a commander in internal affairs went after her and made these allegations after McGuffey started asking questions about use of force in the jail.
McGuffey says she was not allowed to see the full report against her until 3 weeks later, she was locked out of staff meetings, and she was never allowed to officially respond to the report. She says it took numerous emails to Sheriff Jim Neil and others until she was finally given the report, but was still allowed no response.
McGuffey also says that while the sheriff knew about the situation, she does not blame him and will no accuse him of anything. McGuffey says she will fight the allegations to clear her name and get her reputation back.