The TBI will investigate Gatlinburg detective for perjury in his Ooltewah rape case testimony

CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) – Another shoe drops in the criticism of Galtinburg Police Detective Rodney Burns.

The D.A.’s office issued this statement just moments ago.

At the request of Hamilton County District Attorney General Neal Pinkston the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation will investigate Gatlinburg Police Department Detective Floyd Rodney Burns for perjurious testimony related to statements he made during sworn testimony in Hamilton County Juvenile Court on Monday, February 15, 2015, regarding the assaults and rapes of four Ooltewah High School freshmen basketball players at a tournament in Sevier County last December.

General Pinkston will have no further comment until the investigation is completed.

Detective Burns testified on Monday “To me, it was an assault. It wasn’t sexual really in nature. Their intent was not, you know, his pants weren’t pulled down. They weren’t doing it for sexual gratification. This was something stupid that kids do.”

In response, Chattanooga police chief Fred Fletcher criticized the detective’s testimony on his Facebook page.

He said the allegations against the young men constitute rape, not hazing or bullying.

And last night, School board member Steve Highlander told us “I totally disagreed with the detective from Gatlinburg. I felt like the implications the accusations were made in Gatlinburg, in sevier county. We’re far more serious than the detective seemed to take.”