City officials decline further comment in ‘personnel matter’
A Gladstone police sergeant was fired for potentially criminal misconduct that had nothing to do with the 2011 killing of Higbee Benton, according to a document released Thursday by the city at the advice of the Clackamas County district attorney’s office.
In a Dec. 12 memorandum, Police Chief Jim Pryde says Sgt. Lynn Benton engaged in a “fraudulent marriage” to a Brazilian man in 1993, when Benton was legally female, so the man could qualify for U.S. citizenship, potentially a violation of federal law.
The memo also says Benton possessed and viewed pornography on his police-issued laptop computer, a violation of city policy.
Portland and Milwaukie police, at Pryde’s request, investigated the misconduct issues, and Pryde’s memo says both allegations were “sustained.”
“As a result of these findings, bearing in mind the gravity of each individually and collectively, it is no longer tenable for Lynn Benton to serves as a police officer with the city of Gladstone,” Pryde wrote. “Therefore, I am recommending immediate termination following any due process the city feels is in order.”
City Administrator Pete Boyce fired Benton Dec. 21 after a hearing, but city officials declined further comment this week, saying it was “a personnel matter.”
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