Macon police officer to be fired after accusations of having sex with accused shoplifter

A Macon police officer accused of having sex with an accused shoplifter in exchange for not filing charges has been issued a five-day notice of pending termination.

Freddie Wilder Fountain, 24, was arrested at 3:45 p.m. on charges of sexual assault of a person in custody and violation of oath of office, according to a police news release.

Fountain and a second officer, William Stewart, responded to a report of two women shoplifting at Old Navy on Presidential Parkway Oct. 11. Fountain took one woman into custody while Stewart took the other, according to the release.

Both women understood they were under arrest on a shoplifting charge, according to police.

The woman who Fountain took into custody “negotiated the charge with an offer of sex” and Fountain drove her to his apartment where they had sex, according to the release.

The deal came to light after Stewart issued the other woman a shoplifting citation. That woman threatened to subpoena her alleged accomplice to testify in her defense in court, according to the release.

The woman who had sex with Fountain then contacted another law enforcement agency with the information and that agency contacted Macon police. Detectives interviewed the women separately and corroborated what occurred.

Stewart also has been issued a five-day notice of pending termination on the grounds that he was untruthful when interviewed by police internal affairs investigators about the incident. He has admitted knowing about Fountain’s sexual encounter with the woman, according to the release.

No criminal charges have been filed against Stewart and none are anticipated.

Fountain and Stewart were among the six officers disciplined last month after being discovered playing football behind a Presidential Parkway business while waiting to serve an arrest warrant.

For more on this story, return to macon.com and read Thursday’s Telegraph.

This story was originally published February 15, 2012 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Macon police officer to be fired after accusations of having sex with accused shoplifter."