CASSELBERRY, Fla. — 9 Investigates was the first to tell why Casselberry's police chief suddenly quit his job, and we've since learned his resignation happened after Channel 9's Karla Ray started asking questions.
WFTV broke the story after receiving a letter from a local attorney claiming Chief Bill McNeil sent sexually explicit pictures and videos to several female employees.
McNeil wasn't on the job Friday after walking away from 26 years on the force.
On Thursday, an employment law firm sent Channel 9 the letter it also sent to city leaders, claiming it represents several female Casselberry Police Department employees.
The letter detailed the alleged misconduct, claiming McNeil has "engaged in years of open and obvious intimidating and abusive behaviors."
The firm also said it has evidence that includes "inappropriate text messages, 'selfie-style' pictures of chief McNeil's private parts and an explicit video" that McNeil allegedly texted to at least one of the firm's clients.
PDF: McNeil's resignation letter
Ray went to McNeil's home Friday in hopes of geting his side of the story. The now former police chief did not want to speak on camera, but called Ray a short time later.
McNeil said "I know what I did wrong, but I never ever, ever did anything wrong to gender discriminate. I supported people, I was kind to people, I cared about people. These attorneys have put words on a paper that aren't me."
McNeil went on to say that he couldn't get into details regarding the attorney's letter, but that he's not the kind of person he's being made out to be.
The only discipline Channel 9 could find in McNeil's near three-decade personnel file was a written reprimand from two weeks ago when he was given a written reprimand for a phone conversation with a city employee from another department, in which McNeil called the employee a "(expletive) wuss" and to "stay the (expletive) away from me."
Before Channel 9 received the letter, the chief said he didn't do anything illegal. He also said he was too upset to do an interview.
McNeil's annual salary was $127,000. He will receive 12 weeks of severance pay for resigning and he'll get the sick pay he's accrued, which amounts to $38,000.
David del Rasso is now acting police chief of the Casselberry Police Department.
Statement from Casselberry prior to McNeil's resignation:
"Casselberry Police Chief Bill McNeil has been placed on administrative leave due to an internal administrative investigation of allegations of misconduct. The administrative procedure was prompted by questions from a local news reporter and which were deemed serious in nature to warrant review.
"Chief McNeil has been with the department for 26 years and served as chief for four years. Captain David Del Rosso will serve as acting chief. No other details are available at this time as this is an active administrative investigation."
Ray went to McNeil's home Friday in hopes of geting his side of the story. The now former police chief did not want to speak on camera, but called Ray a short time later.
McNeil said "I know what I did wrong, but I never ever, ever did anything wrong to gender discriminate. I supported people, I was kind to people, I cared about people. These attorneys have put words on a paper that aren't me."
McNeil went on to say that he couldn't get into details regarding the attorney's letter, but that he's not the kind of person he's being made out to be.
WFTV
