By DEANNA BOYD
Fort Worth Star Telegram (Texas)
A Fort Worth Fire Department engineer was suspended without pay this month, almost three months after he was indicted on a charge of indecency with a child over allegations that he fondled a 13-year-old girl.
Scotty Bort, 36, was suspended effective Jan. 12 until up to 30 days after the resolution of the indictment, according to civil-service documents obtained Thursday by the Star-Telegram.
Keller police filed the charge against Bort on May 15, Tarrant County court records show.
Keller police Lt. Tommy Williams said a witness told police in April that Bort had fondled the girl the month before at a Keller residence.
“Because of the victim’s youth, her identity is being protected,” Williams said.
Police arrested Bort April 15. He was booked into jail and released on a $5,000 bond.
Court records show that Bort was indicted on the charge, a second-degree felony, Oct. 27. Lisa Mullen, Bort’s defense attorney, declined to comment Thursday.
Bort joined the Fort Worth Fire Department in 1994.
Fire Lt. Kent Worley said investigators learned about the indictment Jan. 4 and, based on civil-service law, immediately began the process of suspending Bort.