A June investigative report from the Indiana Office of Inspector General (OIG) detailed an inquiry into the actions of a former employee of the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) who used a state phone to send a sexually explicit image.
Zachary Rutherford, a former maintenance operations supervisor 3 for (INDOT), was fired on November 16, 2023 and later that month OIG received a complaint alleging that Rutherford had solicited a woman to meet him in his state vehicle for sex at a work site.
Prior to the OIG complaint, an INDOT Investigation Manager conducted a “brief examination” of the state phone Rutherford used, finding sexually explicit images to and from that phone.
Further scrutiny revealed that Rutherford had contacted four different women during work hours in the month of October, spending a cumulative six hours and 14 minutes of state time sexting or otherwise communicating about non-work topics. OIG calculated that the state loss during that time was $226.28.
The ethics ruling concluded that Rutherford had committed ghost employment, or done other work during state time, and misused state property. On March 21, 2024, Rutherford entered into a settlement agreement with OIG admitting to the violations and agreeing to pay a fine.
The $250 fine combined with the $226.28 of lost time total an agreed payment of $476.28 from Rutherford to the state.
By Whitney Downard — Indiana Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a not-for-profit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
