(WXYZ) — The Wayne County sheriff’s testimony in an ongoing federal lawsuit is raising questions about possible perjury, according to legal expert who reviewed evidence uncovered in a 7 News Detroit investigation.
Watch the investigation in the video player below:
Sheriff Raphael Washington was deposed last year in connection with a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a former appointee.
Regina Parks alleges Washington terminated her after she disclosed that she’d secretly recorded him sexually harassing her. Washington denies the claim, and the county says she was fired for insubordination.
During a contentious deposition, Washington was questioned about a public Instagram account in his name and image—raywash.826—which accumulated hundreds of posts over 8 years and follows a number of sexually-charged Instagram accounts.
“You have an obsession with looking at women’s rear ends and seeking out material to show nude or partially nude women,” said Deborah Gordon, who represents Regina Parks, during the deposition.
“Absolutely not,” Washington replied.
Previous Coverage: Wayne Co. Sheriff Washington denies posting nude photo, video to his Facebook
Throughout his law enforcement career, Washington has been accused by at least six different women of harassment. He has denied all of the allegations.
When first asked about the Instagram account in his name, Washington said he was unsure if the account was his.
“It would be, possibly, and I….it could be,” he said, adding that people have impersonated him over the years.
Previous Coverage: Secret recordings undercut Wayne County sheriff’s sexual harassment denials
But once he was shown a series of printouts of sexually explicit accounts followed by the page Washington denied it was his.
“People are hacking my page regularly,” he said, while repeatedly proclaiming: “That’s not my page.”
Recently, Washington claimed he was hacked when confronted with lewd images linked to his personal Facebook page.
In May, 7 News Detroit revealed how nude images made their way onto his personal Facebook page not once, but twice. Washington denied knowing anything about them, later telling WJBK-TV that he had been hacked.
“I don’t know how it got there, I didn’t put it there,” Washington said at the time. “It’s very disturbing, and I hate that whoever did that put it on my site.”
The sheriff’s office said it would get to the bottom of who posted the images, and county commissioners said they needed to.
But weeks later, 7 News asked the sheriff’s office to produce records that anyone had been asked to investigate the supposed hack. They said there were none.
The accounts Washington was questioned over during his deposition—featuring sexually-explicit content creators, exotic dancers and other adult content—are too risqué to put on television.
7 News Detroit found at least 18 followed by raywash.826. Following accounts like these is legal and doing so wouldn’t violate the county’s ethics policy. But being untruthful under oath, legal experts say, would be a much bigger problem.
Previous Coverage: Wayne County commissioners want probe into nude images on Washington's Facebook
Raywash.826 amassed more than 650 posts that are what you’d typically find on Instagram: vacations, dinners with his wife, selfies in the gym and in uniform.
The account was started in 2013, when Washington was a deputy chief and would be regularly posted to for the next 8 years.
The account that Washington says isn’t his is followed by his wife, his two sons, his cousin Bishop Charles Ellis, Washington’s current chief of staff, the deputy Wayne County executive, Washington’s executive assistant and a litany of current and former sheriff’s employees.
In public posts and comments, Raywash.826 has been seen interacting with virtually all of them.
Multiple former and current county employees shared private messages they’d exchanged with the account, including one where RayWash.826 mentions attending a fellowship at Harvard University.
“Did a 30 day fellowship there in June 2010,” the account wrote. “So technically I’m an alum,” adding a winking emoji.
7 News Detroit contacted Harvard’s Kennedy School, which confirmed that Washington attended and graduated from the program in June of that year.
Previous Coverage: Wayne County commissioner calls for 'changes' at the top of sheriff's office
Frequently, Raywash.826 advertised Washington’s private company, CPL Pro. More than 65 times, it was used to promote his concealed pistol license classes, with most of the posts advertising the same 313 phone number: Washington’s personal cell phone.
Multiple people commented that they were interested in taking the class. 7 News Detroit spoke with two of them, who confirmed they later took the course taught by Raphael Washington.
But repeatedly throughout the deposition, Washington said the account was never his.
“Are you saying that’s definitely not your page?” attorney Deb Gordon asked. “Yes,” Washington replied, adding later: “This is not my page. This is not my page!”
Anjali Prasad is a former state and federal prosecutor who reviewed Washington’s deposition along with his Instagram account.
“Did he give himself any wiggle room in there?” asked Channel 7’s Ross Jones.
“He gave himself no wiggle room there,” she replied. “‘That is not my page’ is what he said.”
Prasad said Washington’s testimony, squared with the evidence compiled by 7 News Detroit, raised significant questions about his truthfulness.
“I don’t do stories about elected leaders’ social media habits,” Jones said. “I do do stories about police officers who aren’t honest. Does this strike you as one of those examples?”
Prasad replied: yes.
If a prosecutor wanted to explore Washington's testimony for possible perjury, it would likely fall to the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office, as Washington's deposition was taken in Bloomfield Hills.
Perjury is a charge that is seldom brought, according to legal experts, because the burden for proof is very high.
Citing the pending litigation against the county, the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment for this story.
Raywash.826, which is still public, has not been posted to since June of 2020.
That same month, Washington created the account raywash826—identical but for the period—which he acknowledged during his deposition belonged to him.
Unlike the account he was questioned over, raywash826 remains private and not viewable to the public.
Contact 7 Investigator Ross Jones at ross.jones@wxyz.com or at (248) 827-9466.