TOWNS COUNTY, Ga. – The sole commissioner of Towns County, Cliff Bradshaw, is facing allegations of misuse of his taxpayer-issued phone to take inappropriate photos of female volunteers for the county government and disperse them among fellow government employees.

One of the alleged victims of the inappropriate photos came forward to “call out” Bradshaw and to “shed light” on the situation.

Former volunteer, Shannon Baldwin-Nguyen, brought the allegations to public attention after posting on social media on June 6.

“Whenever you decided during planning meetings to use your cell phone, or actually the taxpayers’ cell phone, to take inappropriate pictures of me underneath the table— you crossed the line,” Baldwin-Nguyen wrote.

FYN talked to Baldwin-Nguyen about the allegations against the Towns County Commissioner.

She stated that she became aware of the inappropriate photos after three men came forward to her to inform her that the images existed and that others had been recipients of the alleged photos, including the Fire Chief of Towns County.

She claimed that although she did formerly work with Towns County as a volunteer and assisted in events at the Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds, she had stepped away from her role due to the way “certain aspects were handled.”

She also stated that while volunteering within Towns County government, she had received “bad vibes” from Bradshaw.

Baldwin-Nguyen claimed that in the months and weeks leading up to her discovery of the alleged photos, she had been harassed by Bradshaw ‘in an effort to intimidate’ her.

She believes that the harassment began after she left her position within the county and joined a local group called the Towns County Citizens for Government for Transparency and specifically after the group asked for open records request within the county.

According to her, the open records request was to find out how much each county employee makes and that was the extent of the request.

However, she felt that he was upset with the request as she stated he publicly called her out at a local government meeting.

Baldwin-Nguyen said she felt she was the target of the harassment because “he was afraid of me finding out about the photos of me and [the other victim] and it was on his work phone which could be turned over if we were to ask for that in an open records request.”

She stated that since the open records request was filed in October of last year, she has dealt with individuals coming onto her property, taking photos, and just ‘continued harassment’ that Bradshaw is behind.

“You have weaponized your position as Sole Commissioner of Towns County against me to try and silence me. You have sent your county bounty hunters out to try and scare me. You have involved outside entities to silence me because of your actions. I am not afraid of you. I do not pity you. I do not forgive you,” Baldwin-Nguyen wrote in her public social media post.

She said her reason for bringing the allegations public is because “people have a right to know who their elected official really is.”

She continued in her post by starting, “Cliff Bradshaw, you don’t deserve to represent this county. You don’t deserve to live off of tax dollars. You don’t deserve to be afforded the opportunity to go on your hunting trips with your fan club. You deserve embarrassment and shame. You deserve to be removed from your position as the Sole Commissioner of Towns County.”

FYN reached out to Sheriff Henderson regarding the allegations and he was able to confirm that it has been handed over to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to investigate the case.

He was not able to speak on the claims or the case but said it was an active case that the GBI is handling.

FYN also reached out to Commissioner Bradshaw over the allegations directed at him.

He stated he was “not at liberty to make any statements at this time.”

*All persons are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law*