Accused employee spanker waives preliminary hearing
CHATTANOOGA — A business owner charged with spanking two female employees waived a preliminary hearing Tuesday.
A judge allowed Tasty Flavors Sno Biz operator Paul Eugene Levengood, 57, of Cleveland to remain free on a $2,000 bond until a Hamilton County grand jury considers the two sexual battery charges.
Levengood, accompanied by his wife, declined comment about the charges as they left the courtroom with his attorney, Kenton Holloway.
Assistant District Attorney Barry Steelman said he was prepared to present evidence before Levengood “chose to send the case to the grand jury” for consideration of an indictment.
Steelman said he was unsure when the grand jury would meet.
Holloway declined comment about the charges but said Levengood was prepared to “plead not guilty.”
Levengood described his Tasty Flavors Sno Biz shaved ice business in Red Bank, a Chattanooga suburb, as “seasonal” and said it has been closed since he was charged last fall. He said it has about six employees.
The charges are detailed in separate Nov. 1 police reports on complaints by the two teenagers. The Associated Press is not identifying the women because they may be victims of a sexual crime.
One of the women told police that on Oct. 26, her first day on the job, Levengood made her sign the statement: “I give Gene permission to bust my behind any way he sees fit.”
Police records show one of the women told police that when she forgot to put a banana in a smoothing drink, Levengood “bent her over his knee and spanked her behind 20 times.”
The other woman said she worked for Levengood more than a year after she was spanked and reported to police that he “told her that either she could be spanked or be fired.”
Police Sgt. Jay LaMance previously said the two women likely accepted the spankings instead of leaving immediately because they were “brought up to respect anybody who is an authority figure.”
In November after the charges, Levengood was placed in intensive care at a local hospital and police records referred to a possible suicide attempt. Family members declined comment about his condition or the reason for his hospitalization.