Two Georgia sheriff’s deputies have resigned after they were found to have contacted women on Backpage.com, a website that features prostitutes and people seeking their services, officials said.
The FBI in May reported finding one Bibb County deputy’s personal cellphone number in the contacts in a sex trafficking victim’s phone, the Macon Telegraph reported. The sheriff’s office also investigated after learning of the FBI’s findings.
Deputies Jeffrey Cranford and Robert Scarborough gave notice of their intention to resign in September, the newspaper reported.
Cranford admitted texting women he contacted through the website, but he denied meeting any of them in person.
“It’s just like a thrill thing, kind of like watching porn,” Cranford said in an internal investigation, according to the newspaper.
Asked why he would visit the site, Scarborough told an investigator: “It’s not illegal to go on there, it’s not illegal if you talk to a prostitute and it’s only illegal if you mess with a prostitute,” the Telegraph reported.
“I’m disappointed,” Sheriff David Davis said.
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