BREAKING NEWS: UPDATED ON NOV. 21: Columbus PD suspends officer following sex assault, misconduct investigation

UPDATED FRIDAY, NOV. 20, 2015, AT 3:14 P.M.

A Columbus police officer who was accused of sexual assault and misconduct while on duty was facing termination by the town on Nov. 20.
Police Sgt. Paul Caraway, 56, was to find out today if he was to be terminated, Town Attorney Doug Howard told the News Thursday, Nov. 19.
Town officials could not be reached to confirm whether or not the termination took place.
Caraway was placed on paid administrative leave by Police Chief Bill Pronovost on July 6 after the chief became aware of a complaint of misconduct by Caraway, the News learned through a written request under the Freedom of Information Act.
Pronovost requested that alleged incidents of misconduct by Caraway be investigated by the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation, Howard said.
“That investigation has been conducted and completed,” Howard said.
Certain incidents of alleged misconduct by Caraway came to light during that investigation that led to Mayor Gary Woltermann providing Caraway with a letter on Nov. 6 stating that Caraway was suspended without pay and giving Caraway notice that the mayor intended to terminate his employment with the town effective Nov. 20, Howard said.
“That gave Caraway 10 days to file a written response with the mayor,” Howard said. “Caraway's response was received Nov. 16, and the mayor is still reviewing the response to decide what final action will be taken.”
Caraway declined to comment when contacted by the News.
Howard said the investigative information about Caraway was provided to the Montana Attorney General's Office and the Stillwater County Attorney's Office. Both offices determined that they could not successfully prosecute the alleged incidents of misconduct as a criminal offense, Howard said.
Howard also said he was not aware of anyone being physically harmed by Caraway.
In a Sept. 29 letter to Pronovost and Stillwater County Attorney Nancy Rohde, Montana Assistant Attorney General Brant Light explained that “it is clear from this and previous investigations that Sgt. Caraway has acted inappropriately in office settings.”
“While Sgt. Caraway may want to characterize his actions as playful and that others willfully participated, his actions were not appropriate in any government office setting,” Light said.
Light, however, said the investigation also made it clear that both Caraway and an alleged victim “have credibility issues.”
“While I believe it is entirely possible that the alleged act of sexual assault did in fact take place, I do not believe I could prove it beyond a reasonable doubt due to those serious credibility issues,” Light said about an alleged incident in June.
Stillwater County is being represented in the complaint brought by the dispatcher by Montana Association of Counties Managing Defense Counsel Gregory Bonilla. He denied most of the allegations in his response.
Two weeks after Caraway was placed on paid administrative leave, a complaint was filed with the police by a mother with two children who lived in Columbus.
According to court documents and Columbus police documents, the woman claimed that Caraway randomly pulled her car over, moved her parked car one time without permission, and climbed into the front seat of her car one time when she was gone, frightening her children. She claimed that these and other incidents occurred over a four-year time period.
Citing these alleged incidents, the woman sought a temporary order of protection from Caraway in Stillwater County Justice Court, which was granted by Justice of the Peace Lee Cornell on Sept. 9.
The petition for an order of protection was dissolved following a court hearing on Sept. 28. Cornell ruled that the woman had not provided sufficient solid evidence for him to grant an order of protection.
On Oct. 20, the Columbus Town Council unanimously approved spending up to $2,500 to hire Billings attorney Tom Singer to work on the Caraway case, which was being kept confidential at the time as a personnel matter. Singer had specialized knowledge about employment law, Howard told the council at the time.