Grand jury acquits former Kingsport police sergeant of criminal wrongdoing

SULLIVAN COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) – A Sullivan County grand jury has cleared a former sergeant with the Kingsport Police Department (KPD) of criminal wrongdoing.

On May 17, Daniel Horne resigned from the KPD due to an investigation into an alleged inappropriate photo.

According to court documents, a grand jury found there was no evidence that Horne had contacted a minor or taken any criminal action, stating that he was the victim of catfishing and extortion.

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The person behind the scam reportedly sent Horne a friend request on Instagram, claiming to be a 21-year-old female student. The person sent Horne a private photo and asked him to do the same, according to court documents.

Horne then sent a photo of himself in his uniform, along with a “single inappropriate photo.”

The person running the fake account sent Horne a message with the photo he had sent earlier and a separate photo of his family, and demanded $700. The person reportedly said she would “ruin his life” if he didn’t get the money would send.

“(Horne) sent a $200 gift card that she requested and said he had no more money to send,” according to court documents. “This person then sent the inappropriate photo to 25 people on (Horne’s) Instagram friends list and said that if he didn’t send more money, she would say he sent the photo to a minor.”

Horne then called his lieutenant and told him what happened, and he was placed on administrative leave.

The KPD, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) and Special Agent Brian Fraley investigated the case. A search warrant was obtained for Meta to identify the woman’s Instagram user account.

The search warrant determined that the account was used from Greece, Turkey and Nigeria by the person claiming to be a student.

“After thoroughly reviewing both investigations, the Grand Jury unanimously determined that there is no evidence that the officer (Horne) contacted a minor nor that the officer took any criminal action,” according to court documents .

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