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(Note from The Editor: Thanks to the kind readers who tipped this
story)
Boss Gave Spankings to Female Employees for "Mistakes"
Nov 10/ 2004
RED BANK, Tenn. - Two young women complained to police that they
were spanked by their 57-year-old employer for mistakes on the job,
and the boss now faces criminal charges.
One of the women told police that on her first day at the Tasty
Flavors Sno Biz, before any spanking, owner Paul Eugene Levengood
made her sign a statement that said: "I give Gene permission
to bust my behind any way he sees fit."
The separate complaints prompted two sexual battery charges against
Levengood of Cleveland, who was freed on a $2,000 bond pending a
Nov. 16 court hearing.
Levengood could not be reached for comment Tuesday, and his Tasty
Flavors Sno Biz shaved ice business in this Chattanooga suburb was
closed.
Police Sgt. Jay LaMance said the two 19-year-old women likely accepted
the spankings instead of leaving immediately because they were "brought
up to respect anybody who is an authority figure."
One of the women told police Nov. 1 that she "was shocked
at the incident but could not leave because she had no transportation."
The other woman said she continued to work for Levengood more than
a year after she was spanked and reported to police that he told
her "either she could be spanked or be fired."
The Associated Press is not identifying the women because they
may be victims of a sexual crime.
According to police documents, one of the women reported that on
Oct. 30, her fourth day on the job, Levengood called her "into
the back room of the store" after she forgot to put a banana
in a smoothie drink.
She said that as punishment Levengood "bent her over his knee
and spanked her behind 20 times."
She said that was one day after he "snapped a photograph of
her behind" as she reached for a flavor bottle on a shelf.
LaMance said one of the women showed him photographs that had been
kept at the store. The photos of women were shot from behind and
in some cases do not show faces but "all you see are their
behinds," he said.
"These photos are not sexually explicit," he said. "They
are clothed."
At the company headquarters in Minneapolis, sales manager Tom Novetzke
described Levengood as a "very Christian person." He said
the company's toll-free number is very visible for employees and
customers.
"We've never had a complaint," Novetzke said.
He said Levengood opened the store about two years ago and is "an
independent operator using our products."
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