HARDINSBURG, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Breckinridge County Sheriff's Deputy was suddenly fired after only six months on the job.
Anthony Philips, 33, started working as a Breckinridge County Sheriff's Deputy last November after working for years at the Breckinridge County Detention Center. But his career at the Sheriff's Office didn't last long.
Nobody wants to say exactly why Phillips was fired, but he was busted trying to have sex with a teenager in a "To Catch a Predator" police sting.
Among the more than 40 pages of information in his personnel file, obtained via an open records request, is a letter Breckinridge County Sheriff Todd Pate wrote to Phillips saying he's fired effective May 4. Phillips was able to pick up his last paycheck two days later.
It doesn't say why he was fired, but court records may shed some light. Philips was arrested in Flagler Beach, Fla., in 2006 for a number of charges, including a felony for lewd or lascivious conduct, computer pornography and child exploitation. He was 21 years old at the time.
Breckinridge County Chief Deputy Bruce Anthony said his office found out about a "To Catch a predator" police sting in which Phillips was arrested for trying to have sex with a teenage girl.The Flagler County Clerk's Office said Phillips pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Anthony said his office called Florida officials to check on the case and said the misdemeanors would not have stopped Phillips from working with the department, because they aren't felonies.
But in Phillips's termination letter, Sheriff Pate writes, "based on information revealed in your polygraph exam and interview at the academy that you failed to disclose in your interview ... I do not feel that I can continue your employment." He goes on to say, "my decision to terminate your employment has been very difficult to make."
Pate said he can't reveal when he learned about the Florida charges but added, "at the time he worked here, he was a loyal and dedicated employee." Pate recently returned to the office after his second DUI arrest in five years and also wouldn't comment on that.
He is expected to be arraigned next week.
Breckinridge County Jailer Tara Shrewsberry said Phillips worked at the jail for six years but wasn't hired by her. Phillips could not be reached for comment.
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