Sex in a judge's chambers, trysts at local hotels during business hours and obscene phone calls are among the many allegations of what occurred in the 23 years Howard "Skip" Chesshire was chief administrator of Cobb County Superior Court, according to an investigator's report.

The 48-page document, released Tuesday by a special investigator hired by the county, also alleges that Chesshire, 54, ran his offices like a fiefdom, requiring tribute in the form of praise and thanks, intimidating employees and using accounts under his control to hide jobs for young women he wanted nearby.

Chesshire and his attorney, Diane Woods, declined Tuesday to comment on the allegations because they had not read the report. The document says Chesshire was interviewed once during the investigation, that he denied the allegations and declined further interview requests.

In his appointed position as court administrator, Chesshire, who is married, worked for the Superior Court judges. Among his duties were overseeing court-related functions ranging from the law library to jury administration and interpreters.

"In the face of these serious allegations, the Superior Court judges have strengthened and reaffirmed our policies and procedures with the intent of preventing this type of issue in the future," Chief Judge S. Lark Ingram said in a prepared statement on Tuesday.

The county on Tuesday also named Tom Charron, a former Cobb district attorney, to replace Chesshire.

Charron took the position on an interim basis shortly after Chesshire left the job in February, when the allegations surfaced.

The Chesshire report, written by labor lawyer Mairen Kelly, outlines the results of her five-month investigation, which as of June had cost $50,000, according to bills obtained under state Open Records law.

Much of the report focuses on the accounts of three unidentified women who were 18 or 19 years old when Chesshire, a former president of the National Association for Court Management, hired them as interns.

The women told investigators they never complained because they were afraid of retaliation.

Behavior that started with flirting, kisses and hugs graduated to groping, oral sex, encounters at a local hotel and displays of nude photos, including one Chesshire allegedly had on his cellphone, according to the women and other employees who were interviewed.

Other women in the court administrator's office said they received obscene phone calls from a man identifying himself as "Skip." Kelly's report says one of the messages was recorded by the woman who received it and that staff and judges familiar with Chesshire's voice identified him as the caller when investigators replayed the message.

Kelly wrote that the tape-recorded statements went "beyond racy or risque and, in this investigator's view, would be deemed obscene."

At least once, according to the report, Chesshire asked two of the young women to have lesbian sex.

Other court staff —- older women —- told investigators Chesshire sometimes had a young girl in his office alone, with the door closed and shades drawn.

Before Chesshire cleaned out his office in February, it was filled with pictures of his family and drawings made by his children. Even the door to his office was covered with children's drawings. Awards and photographs covered almost every inch of wall space.

Some of the allegations go back to the early 1990s.

A 19-year-old woman, who found a job at the courthouse after high school back then, said Chesshire took her to a hotel during work hours, gave her wine and "then engaged her in various sexual acts."

Kelly wrote that the woman told her she was "overwhelmed by Mr. Chesshire's position of authority and her own naivete."

More than a decade later, the witness said she continued to feel pain and distress.

Another witness told investigators of her alleged encounters with Chesshire in the late 1990s. At the time, she was an 18-year-old high school senior working as an intern.

The report says the girl had sex with Chesshire several times in empty offices and conference rooms at the courthouse. Once, she told investigators, they had sex in a judge's chambers.

The witness told investigators Chesshire often gave her assignments that isolated her from other workers, and that she believed the assignments were meant to increase her vulnerability.

Another former employee told investigators of sexual encounters over two years. She regularly received calls from Chesshire to come to his office for a meeting. Once she arrived, "the purpose of the meeting was to perform oral sex," the report said.

Chesshire, who worked for Cobb nearly 30 years, receives about $100,000 annually in retirement.

While the report goes out of its way to point out how the judges were separated from the court administrator in the building and could not have known about the alleged escapades, it says the judges have since taken action. Among the steps: sensitivity training for employees, clearer job descriptions and creating open lines for reporting workplace problems.

THE STORY SO FAR

> Previously: Superior Court administrator Howard "Skip" Chesshire quit in February after allegations of sexual misconduct and falsification of time slips surfaced.

> The latest: A lawyer hired by the county to investigate issued an indicting report.

> What's next: Court system implementing sensitivity training and creating clearer lines for reporting workplace problems.