Since 1998, the North Carolina Highway Patrol has dealt with at least 27 cases of sexual misconduct by troopers either on or off duty. Here is a sampling of those cases based on records filed with the N.C. Office of Administrative Hearings and the state Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission. Some details, such as dates and places of incidents, were not available.
TROOPER RONALD EZZELL JR.: A 19-year veteran of the patrol, Ezzell was fired in February for showing a photo of a naked boy with a large penis to a state credit union teller in October 2008. He was in uniform and in a patrol car at the time of the incident. An administrative court judge ruled last month to uphold the firing.
TROOPER MICHAEL STEELE JR.: Steele was sentenced to nearly seven years in prison for abducting and fondling Hispanic women at traffic stops in Orange County in 2008 and then threatening them with deportation if they told.
SGT. RANDY KING: He was demoted in 2004 for using a patrol computer to facilitate an off-duty affair.
TROOPER MICHAEL QUINN: He admitted to having an extramarital affair in 2004 with the wife of a Coast Guard official. The patrol ordered him to stop the affair; he didn't. He also contacted a witness -- another trooper -- during the internal investigation and asked whether he had been interviewed. Quinn received a 5 percent reduction in salary. He was later fired from the patrol for an unrelated matter.
TROOPER MONTY STEVEN POARCH: An 18-year veteran, Poarch lost his job in 2003 after admitting to an extramarital affair and to having sex inside his patrol car. While trying to get reinstated, Poarch was charged last March with misdemeanor assault.
TROOPER SCOTT MORROW: He and Trooper Poarch had extramarital affairs with the same woman in 2002. Morrow admitted having sex with her while he was on duty. On one occasion, while having sex with the woman in her car, Morrow inadvertently left his gun behind and children later found it. Morrow was also found to have had affairs with two other women. He received a five-day suspension.
SGT. NEBBIE SATTERFIELD: In 2002, Satterfield was caught having sex with his ex-wife while on duty, making 22 threatening phone calls to her and attempting to stop her in his patrol car without justification. He received a 5 percent reduction in pay and a demotion. He was later promoted to sergeant.
SGT. GERRY MOUZON: In 1999, he was demoted and transferred for using patrol facilities and equipment to engage in an affair with another trooper's wife that lasted several months.
TROOPER GREGG S. FORD: In his patrol car and on duty, he exposed himself to a woman who exposed her breasts. They kissed. The woman said there was another occasion when she met him on duty, and Ford admitted that he allowed another woman in his patrol car on two occasions for reasons other than "official business." He received a three-day suspension.
SGT. FRED HARGRO: He and his supervisor, Sgt. Forrest Travis Coston, had a threesome with a woman Hargro knew. Hargro received a three-day suspension while Coston was fired for sexual misconduct and for lying about his actions to internal affairs investigators. Hargro was later promoted to sergeant