INDIANAPOLIS — A former employee of the Indiana Department of Transportation has been fined and is no longer allowed to work for the state of Indiana after he was found to have used his state-issued cellphone to access adult chats.
According to an investigative report from the Office of the Indiana Inspector General, Justin Breedlove was terminated from his position as the Cambridge City Subdistrict Manager for the Indiana Department of Transportation on Oct. 21, 2021.
This comes after the inspector general’s office received an anonymous complaint that alleged Breedlove inappropriately used his state-issued vehicle and his state-issued cell phone.
In an investigation from the inspector general’s office, officials interviewed various employees, and obtained Breedlove’s state phone records, vehicle activity, timecards and other data. A supervisor with INDOT told investigators he spoke with Breedlove regarding discrepancies with his time, as well as reported access of adult chats while using his state-issued cell phone.
During that interview, Breedlove reportedly told the INDOT supervisor regarding the time discrepancies that he worked from home, worked on weekends and flexed his time to engage in activities unrelated to work. In response to the accusations of accessing the adult chats, Breedlove said a 15-year-old boy living with him was the one conducting the chats.
Officials said the adult chats continued after the dates Breedlove said the boy left his home. The documents also stressed that the chats also occurred during Breedlove’s regularly scheduled work hours.
Through data collected, officials determined that Breedlove had reportedly used 32 hours to engage in chat lines and other “unauthorized activities” during regular work hours between January 2018 and October 2021.
Through the inspector general’s investigation, officials found that Breedlove violated the state’s use of state property rule through the decision to use the state-issued cell phone for adult chats. The documents said that the state’s limited personal use of state property and resources policy did not cover what Breedlove used the phone for.
The investigation also uncovered that Breedlove violated the ghost employment rule. The documents said that by using 32 hours of state time to engage in the activities.
In October, officials with the investigator general’s office presented the case to the State Ethics Commission. The commission then found probable cause to file an ethics complaint against Breedlove, alleging the violations of the use of state property rule and the ghost employment rule.
“The Inspector General and Breedlove signed an agreed settlement in which Breedlove admitted to the violations of the code as alleged in the ethics complaint,” the documents read. “As part of the agreement Breedlove agreed to pay a fine of $2,048.68 and agreed to be barred from any future employment with the state of Indiana.”
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