DHS law enforcement agent fired over sexual harassment

Douglas Mabry was discharged Aug. 15 for sexual harassment, conduct unbecoming a public employee, misuse of state equipment, discourteous treatment of others and willful violation of state ethics or merit rules, records show.

Investigators reported Mabry claimed his “failure to realize” his conduct was offensive was due to a “dark sense of humor ... developed to deal with the stress of years of police work involving sex crimes against children.”

He claimed that anyone who said he touched them in a sexual manner was “lying,” but “freely admitted” to sending “sexually suggestive, possible offensive, comments, requests, jokes, photos or videos to female employees,” records state.

DHS Inspector General Michael Fairless wrote employees were “intimidated” to report Mabry because of his position as an “investigative agent.”

“Although your technical law enforcement skills are undeniable,” Fairless wrote Mabry in a discharge letter, “your misconduct strikes at the heart of what it means to be a peace officer.”

Mabry was accused of sexually harassing one woman he had been assigned to protect as a witness in a child abuse trial. She told investigators Mabry touched her thigh, grabbed her buttocks and sent her approximately 20 text messages “in rapid succession,” asking if he could stay in her hotel room, cuddle with her and have sex.