VERO BEACH – Lieutenant Macen LeVan was terminated Wednesday for willful neglect of official duties in Vero Beach, according to a statement published by the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office.
LeVan had served with the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office in Vero Beach for 18 years in a variety of assignments with his most recent being at the Indian River County Courthouse.
According to Maj. Eric Flowers, sheriff’s spokesman, Lt. Macen LeVan was found have photographed himself partially naked while on duty and taken about 120 explicit photos with his agency cell phone.
Internal affairs began their investigation in April after receiving a complaint from an IRC Sheriff’s employee, Flowers said.
LeVan’s cell phone was taken to look for some specific text messages during the investigation.
“While we were looking for those messages, we came across a number of inappropriate photos, specifically some that were taken of him, of himself, while on duty in the courthouse in his office,” Flowers said in a statement. “Obviously, that became a concern as he’s supposed to be watching the courthouse, he’s supposed to be protecting and managing the courthouse and he was taking inappropriate photos of himself while he was in his office.”
LeVan faced five allegations, three related to using his agency cell phone to photograph his genitals while on duty, and one relates to abuse of sheriff’s equipment by using his agency cell phone to take approximately 125 explicit photos and videos. Another allegation relates to communicating with a potential witness in an administrative investigation.
“It appears as though he was sending those photos to other people, all adults, all consenting adults,” Flowers said. “There’s nothing criminal associated with this case.”
Indian River County Sheriff Deryl Loar wasn’t too happy about LeVan’s conduct at the Vero Beach courthouse.
“We take the safety and security of our courthouse very seriously. We average more than 150,000 visitors to our courthouse every year. Macen LeVan willfully neglected his duties to protect and oversee the operations of our courthouse which I will not tolerate,” Loar stated.
