NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Two detectives from the embattled Millersville Police Department have filed a federal lawsuit against a whistleblower who secretly recorded a child predator sting run by the agency and provided the videos to NewsChannel 5.
The 130-page lawsuit was filed late Monday on behalf of detectives Todd Dorris and Michael Candler against Kim Kelley, the human trafficking activist who recorded the videos and provided them to NewsChannel 5 Investigates. It also names Kelley’s former associate, Phillip Drake, who was not utilized as a source for NewsChannel 5’s investigation.
Claiming defamation, misappropriation of trade secrets and other violations, the complaint accuses Kelley and Drake of “corporate espionage and unfair trade practices.”
“The Defendants intended their smear campaign and false narrative to generate online traffic to their monetized social media accounts and to promoted [sic] themselves, their businesses, and to solicit donations from unsuspecting viewers,” the complaint adds.
Reached for comment, Kelley was adamant that she had done nothing wrong.
“As a whistleblower exposing corruption and advocating for child safety, these baseless accusations and desperate attempts to discredit me only reinforce the systemic issues I’ve uncovered,” she said in a statement.
"My verifiable evidence speaks for itself, and I remain steadfast in my commitment to justice, transparency and protecting children from exploitation."
The lawsuit comes as Dorris, Candler and other police officials face scrutiny from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation whose agents raided Millersville police headquarters, as well as the home of former Assistant Police Chief Shawn Taylor, on Sept. 4.
It was filed by controversial attorney Bryant Kroll, who served as Millersville city attorney for much of 2024 and, by his own admission, faces numerous ethics complaints about his potential conflicts of interest. Kroll has denied any wrongdoing.
Much of Kroll’s complaint appears to be aimed at defending the efforts of Shawn Taylor, the conspiracy-minded figure who served as Millersville’s assistant police chief — and, like the so-called “conspiracy cop,” the lawsuit takes aim at Taylor’s perceived political enemies.
It falsely claims the TBI conspired with NewsChannel 5 for a “coordinated publicity stunt” when agents raided Millersville police headquarters.
It accuses NewsChannel 5 Investigates of engaging in a “politically motivated attack campaign against Shawn Taylor and other Millersville officials.” And it alleges that the Sumner County judge who authorized the search of police offices had a conflict of interest.
Strangely, the lawsuit repeats claims that someone had shot up Taylor’s house in March 2023 with a 9 mm gun on the same day that Audrey Hale carried out a mass shooting at Nashville’s Covenant School.
For reasons that are unclear, it adds: “One of Hale’s weapons was also a 9 mm.”
Among the other curiosities, Kroll’s complaint accuses Kelley of revealing Candler’s “trade-secret identity” and jeopardizing his ability to work undercover by releasing video taken of him during that child predator sting without his consent.
In fact, Kroll himself had posed with Candler, Taylor and other participants in that operation for a selfie photo that was later distributed by Millersville police.
Part of the TBI investigation focuses on the potential perjury by Dorris, who testified in Robertson County Circuit Court in the only case from the sting that resulted in an arrest. Tennessee law for such stings requires that any solicitations can only be prosecuted when law enforcement officers are the ones posing as a minor.
Last summer, Kelley told NewsChannel 5 Investigates that she and other volunteers with the nonprofit Veterans for Child Rescue were the ones doing the actual chatting. Videos supplied by Kelley, which include interactions with the detectives, corroborated her story.
But Dorris, testifying against suspect Henry Dean Jordan, claimed under oath that he and Candler “actually did all the typing and all the data entry,” that Veterans for Child Rescue was just present to provide advice about how to communicate with potential suspects.
Listen to detective's testimony in player below:
The lawsuit, however, tells a different story.
“Volunteers could initially ‘chat’ with subjects to see how they reacted once the decoy profiles revealed they were 12 years of age,” the complaint says. “If the conversations turned ‘raunchy’ or veered into solicitation, volunteers were instructed to bring the phone to detectives to review and handle the solicitation.”
The lawsuit claims that, when Dorris testified that he and Candler did all the typing, he was only referring to the case involving Jordan. (Videos provided by Kelley, however, appear to show her and Candler discussing her role as the decoy in that case.)
Still, questions about the detective’s testimony have resulted in “the obstruction and dismissal of numerous criminal cases that were being investigated by Capt. Dorris and Det. Candler,” the lawsuit claims.
Prosecutors also dropped charges against Jordan, who the lawsuit claims — without evidence — was a “serial child rapist.”
NewsChannel 5 has not found any such history.
As for the secretly recorded video, the complaint claims that, after the child predator sting, Kim Kelley stayed overnight in the VRBO rental that had served as the base for operations.
“She had an entire evening to herself inside the VRBO to record videos of herself and fabricate evidence that made it appear she was openly chatting with suspects on one of the Millersville Op Phones during the sting,” it says.
In fact, the videos provided to NewsChannel 5 Investigates clearly show her directly interacting with Millersville police officials and other members of the operation.
The lawsuit also includes salacious accusations that Kelley had solicited $35,000 from Veterans for Child Rescue “to purchase trafficked children as a means of ‘rescuing’ them from traffickers.”
And it says that Drake, who introduced Kelley to NewsChannel 5 Investigates, has “claimed he was working as a ‘federal contractor’ for both the CIA and Mexican drug cartels and that he would intercept immigrants traveling to the U.S. Border from Mexico.”
“Drake claims that he, with the assistance of other ‘federal contractors’ separated children from their parents and then engaged in the systemic murder of over 5,000 child immigrants,” the complaint states.
Drake could not be reached for comment.
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Do you have information that would help me with my investigation? Send me your tips: phil.williams@newschannel5.com
Here is how this investigation has unfolded:
May 20, 2024: Meet Millersville's conspiracy cop. He imagines sinister plots involving some of the country's most prominent political figures. Taylor recently landed in Millersville as assistant police chief, promising to root out the corruption he sees there. You can continue reading at this hyperlink.
May 22, 2024: The controversy over Millersville's conspiracy cop has now become the latest scandal rocking the tiny town just north of Nashville. Now, two city commissioners want a special meeting to figure out how Shawn Taylor landed his job. You can continue reading Part Two at this link.
May 24, 2024: An attorney for Millersville conspiracy cop Shawn Taylor has told Millersville's city commission, whom he also represents, that they should not question the assistant police chief's bizarre theories or psychological fitness. You can read more of this installment at this link.
May 28, 2024: New podcast video, uncovered by NewsChannel 5 Investigates, reveals how Shawn Taylor spread false and dangerous conspiracy theories about last year's Covenant School shooting that left three students and three staff members dead. You can click here to review that story.
May 28, 2024: Anna Caudill agreed to watch the video of Shawn Taylor knowing there might be only so much she could handle. Among the three children and three adults killed that day was her friend, Katherine Koonce. You can read more of Anna's story by tapping on this link.
June 3, 2024: First, he went after Millersville’s former mayor. Now, the town’s assistant police chief says his two critics on the city commission could be next. Shawn Taylor made those comments as he turned to a group of far-right podcasters to defend himself. Tap this link to read from those Taylor's accused.
June 4, 2024: Millersville officials are standing with their assistant police chief and his bizarre conspiracy theories regarding Nashville's Covenant School shooting. Read how this meeting played out at this link.
June 5, 2024: Bryant Kroll wears a lot of hats. He's the attorney representing the embattled City of Millersville. He also represents Mayor Tommy Long, who faces accusations of misconduct in an ouster suit. Plus, he's the attorney for Bryan Morris and Shawn Taylor. To understand the role he plays, you can read that here.
June 6, 2024: In Shawn Taylor's world, "I'm the problem, it's me." I explain how we got here in this piece, which you can click on here.
June 18, 2024: Millersville's conspiracy cop has his very own conspiracy-minded attorney. Now, our NewsChannel 5 investigation has discovered that Todd Callender's own theories are sometimes even more far-fetched than Taylor’s twisted view of the world. Click here to read more about Shawn Taylor’s attorney.
July 15, 2024: What happens when you give people with bizarre conspiracy theories a gun and a badge? Secret recordings from inside the troubled Millersville Police Department provide a sobering answer to that question. Read more on this investigation by tapping here.
July 22, 2024: In an explosive new development that could bring new trouble for the already-troubled Millersville Police Department, a key player in a child-predator sting says the lead detective on that operation lied under oath. You can read more about that by clicking here.
July 23, 2024: District Attorney General Robert Nash has asked the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to look into the Millersville Police Department's handling of a child predator sting, including possible perjury by the lead detective. You can read more about that by tapping here.
July 29, 2024: The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has expanded its probe of the embattled Millersville Police Department, now looking into allegations that officials may have used sensitive law enforcement data to investigate their political enemies. Read more about that by clicking here.
August 5, 2024: With the Millersville Police Department now the focus of a TBI investigation, NewsChannel 5 Investigates has uncovered new questions about the stories that conspiracy cop Shawn Taylor tells about himself. You can catch up on the investigation by tapping here.
August 12, 2024: In a perplexing pair of podcast interviews, the Millersville chief of police says the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has begun limiting his department's access to certain sensitive law enforcement data. Read more about this latest development here.
August 26, 2024: He has helped to fuel some of the wild conspiracy theories inside the troubled Millersville Police Department. He is a self-proclaimed pedophile hunter who believes America is controlled by what he calls "a satanic cult masquerading as Jews." Read more about Craig Sawyer by clicking here.
August 27, 2024: Craig Sawyer’s response to my investigation illustrates how conspiracy theorists frequently use wild accusations and blustery language to avoid giving real answers about their bizarre beliefs. Tap here to watch as we dissect his 90-minute diatribe.
September 4, 2024: Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents raided the Millersville Police Department and Shawn Taylor’s home, executing a pair of search warrants as the criminal investigation into the troubled agency enters a dramatic new phase. Read more about this new twist in the Millersville investigation.
September 5, 2024: As the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation zeroes in on Millersville police, the department's controversial assistant police chief and his allies are going on the attack. More here.
September 10, 2024: “No, a TBI agent didn't pee in Shawn Taylor's tub, agency says in response to Taylor's latest claim.” The headline says it all. Click here.
September 19, 2024: QAnon-aligned voices of the far right are threatening retaliation against a judge, a district attorney and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents for their roles in the recent Millersville raids. Details posted here.
October 7, 2024: A well-known Arizona election denier says his group — working through Millersville's conspiracy-minded assistant police chief — gained access to a highly confidential federal database that tracks Americans’ banking transactions and other financial data. Read the exclusive story here.
October 22, 2024: Two key GOP lawmakers – the chairman and a member of the state House committee that oversees the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation – recently warned the agency that it could face “unnecessary political fallout” if it does not end its criminal probe into the troubled Millersville Police Department. You can read the letter here.
October 24, 2024: A letter from two GOP lawmakers, which appeared to threaten the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation for its probe of the Millersville Police Department, was the "wrong way to go," House Speaker Cameron Sexton said. But there is more to the speaker's reaction.
December 9, 2024: Shawn Taylor, the conspiracy-minded cop now at the center of a criminal investigation, has resigned from his position as assistant chief for the Millersville Police Department after less than a year on the job. Read more here.
December 18, 2024: After months of controversy in Millersville, the first meeting of the new city commission brought a hint of drama — along with the hope of a fresh start. Click here for more.