An alleged sex scandal has weaved its way through the Washington County Sheriff's Department, involving several current and former deputies.

"He was a good officer. He did a lot of good investigative work," Sheriff Larry Mincks said about Lieutenant Mark Hiatt.

Lieutenant Hiatt is currently on administrative leave in connection with an alleged sex scandal.

According to records, former Deputy Jeff Morris resigned in January 2008, and then a couple of months later, filed a complaint alleging Hiatt had an affair with his wife Tawni; something she told authorities had been going on for six years.

Then, to make matters worse when Sergeant Robert Eddy resigned after different sexual allegations were made against him, his wife Melissa told an officer in a recorded phone conversation that she too had an affair with Lieutenant Hiatt while he was on duty.

"It's rather a disheartening experience, because there is a possibility of termination," Sheriff Mincks said.

But termination isn't part of Lieutenant Hiatt's plan. In a letter he wrote to the sheriff's department, he stated that the allegations are false.

Sheriff Mincks says the situation is impacting the entire department, but that nobody is losing sight of what they do.

"Man for man or woman for woman, they're always out there responding to calls, doing investigations and giving the public their money's worth," he said.

Constantly responding to public problems, and working to solve their own.

Lieutenant Hiatt told WTAP he didn't wish to comment on the situation.