Summary: A fire lieutenant in the City of Clearwater has resigned from his post after an investigation found that he had sex multiple times while on duty.
The City of Clearwater launched an internal investigation into the reported inappropriate actions of a firefighter, according to WFTS.
Fire Lt. Stephen Coward has resigned from his post at Station No. 51 on Overbrook Avenue following the results of the investigation.
Coward has admitted to city administrators that he had sex with two women while on duty. Coward videoed one of the encounters, which took place in a dorm bathroom at the firehouse.
An anonymous whistleblower sent the video, photos and emails to fire officials back in August.
“The fire department received a package and within that package contained a letter and also a disk that encouraged us to check out some activities alleged to have gone on at one of our fire stations,” Clearwater city spokesman Rob Shaw told WFTS.
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Coward also told investigators that he had sex with a woman in the weight room and in a dive truck.
A second unnamed witness told the city that Coward has sex with at least eight different women while on duty.
“We’re very disappointed,” Shaw said. “We expect our firefighters to be professional, to represent the city the best way possible, and that didn’t happen in this case.”
Coward joined the department in 1996 and received his promotion to lieutenant in 2004.
City officials said that none of the women signed the log book to enter the station, which is a rule at all of the fire stations in the city.
Coward officials resigned from his post early in the month of September.
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Image credit: WFTS