Monroe County’s Board of Ethics has endorsed and made public a report which says Monroe County Legislator Ernest Flagler-Mitchell violated the county’s code of ethics.
The report was written by an outside law firm hired bu the county to investigate the claims of a young woman who said Flagler-Mitchell texted her a sexually explicit photo. The 19-year-old woman went to the ethics board with her complaint. Flagler-Mitchell says it was an accident…that he was also texting with his wife at the time and meant the photo for her.
Last month, the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office says it found no criminal conduct in a review of Flagler-Mitchell’s phone, but it also turned its findings over to the ethics board.
The board unanimously endorsed the report and release it to the media. It says Flagler-Mitchell violated Section 45-13 of the Monroe County Code of Ethics. The report says Flagler-Mitchell’s explanation of the incident with the 19-year-old county employee “lacks credibility.” It also says Flagler-Mitchell sent explicit messages to at least 11 other women, and sent them to a third party the day he sent the photo to Lakaya Sinclair, the woman who made the complaint.
The Monroe County Legislature’s Democratic Caucus called for Flagler-Mitchell to resign.