June 2016 Grand Jury term

Special Presentment
Frank Anthony (aka, Tony) Thomas Civil Grand Jury Inspection and Investigation

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The Grand Jury consisting of 18 members have spent multiple hours in a five day period

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witnesses. The accusation against Tony Thomas could not go further to a criminal grand }ury>Jh~':e,;r-11~
has decided to list bulleted items of their various opinions for the public to review.

14 Grand Jurors agree to this statement. Multiple victims' testimonies corroborated that Mr. Thomas
displays a pattern of grooming young males to become sexual partners; All victims were from broken
homes and/or had experienced traumatic events at an early age, leaving them vulnerable to predatory
behavior. Their unstable emotional state was further compromised by Mr. Thomas providing alcoholic
beverages and swooning them with luxurious amenities. While Mr. Thomas' actions clearly violated
Statute 3-3-23 and 10-12-1, unfortunately they are only misdemeanors and not felony offenses. Also,
his actions violated 17-3-2; however, they can not be considered being the statute of limitations has
expired.

14 Grand Jurors agree to this statement. Serving as a grand juror on the special case of Tony Thomas, I
would like to first and foremost send out a heart felt apology to the alleged victims and people involved
in this devastating and outrageous matter. After listening to days and hours of testimonies, statements,
witnesses and viewing pictures and videos I have come to a conclusion that there have been some illegal
and outlandish wrong doings going on. And the conduct of Mr. Thomas, despite his belief, I feel it is
somewhat unprofessional, misleading and unadmirable for a person in his position. Involving this case.
But, as a grand juror, I am bound by legislation to uphold this law and in these stipulations by law there
is not enough concrete evidence and the statute of limitations have run its course. So, again as a grand
juror, I would like to say I'm sorry to the alleged victims and to the officers, investigators and public
servants that spent many days, man hours and time spent on this case for my decision I have made but
as a Christian and a child of God, I say to said victims and said accuser, I pray for you all and that God's
Will will be done.

14 Grand Jurors agree to this statement. Testimony presented to the Civil Grand Jury did not meet the
guidelines to be sent to the Criminal Grand Jury due to the alleged crimes occurring beyond the Statute
of Limitations. However, more than 40 witnesses testified in this case. These witnesses included alleged
victims, family members, community members and law enforcement professionals. Testimony included
a pattern of behavior by Mr. Tony Thomas that could be described as a person trying to obtain sexual
contact with another person in a predatory manner. Testimony was very emotional, describing lives
being impacted in detrimental ways. Many of the alleged victims and their families appeared to have
reached out to Mr. Thomas seeking a positive role model; when in fact the outcomes were very
damaging. It is imperative that education of our parents and children continues to stress the importance
of communicating concerns to a trusted adult, who in turn reports the incident to the police in a timely
manner.

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1 Grand Juror's opinion. One of the most taxing times in my life was this week of over 40 testimonies
heard by, alleged victims, the accused and character witnesses. I myself asked many questions to find if
a person in my opinion was honest or not. While doing so the few who came in accusing Mr. Thomas
were not consistent or credible witnesses ih my opinion. Before attacking Mr. Thomas's character I was
not convinced, due to lack of evidence and the accusers themselves character, that Mr. Thomas did
commit this act. I feel sorry for Mr. Thomas for being accused of being a predator. In my opinion Tony
Thomas is an upstanding citizen who has done well for this community. I do not believe these
accusations to be true or believable. When people say horrible things about some one they need to
realize you can ruin someone's life. In this case I believe that was the goal of David Klugh and John Perry.
That being said the next time you go after a man in a power such as a city counsel man make sure you

have fact and evidence to do so.

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David Klugh in my opinion is such a coward to the point were he reached out on social media via
Facebook and WTOC that he wanted to take down Tony Thomas yet when subpoenaed to come
in and speak with the grand jury, he declined through (his loss) invoking his privilege.

WTOC alleged there were 50 victims when in actuality only 3 men came in and testified to Tony
Thomas touching them. Those three men in my opinion are completely uncreditable.

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John Perry in my opinion came in ill prepared with no notes or reports on Tony Thomas. Mostly
speculation and a very vindictive attitude.

None of the "alleged" victims knew Tony Thomas when they were under the age of 17 from the
evidence we received.

4 Grand Jurors agree to this statement. This week has been one of the most emotional weeks of my life.
When I was told that we would be listening to the Tony Thomas case, I thought he was guilty of being a
child molester. Without ever knowing him, I had prejudged this man because of the picture that was
painted of him on social media. For that, I feel guilty! I spent over 40 hours talking, listening, and thinking
about the case through the week. My conclusion is" Yes. Tony does hang out with younger men, but are
they minors? No. Is it against the law? No. As society may not agree, who are we to judge what this man
does in his social/personal life? As humans, we take whatever it is someone writes, gossips, and says
about people as being true, without ever knowing if it is factual. After many hours I have decided that
Tony Thomas did not molest any of the three witnesses that came to testify. They were 100% not
credible. I think that John Perry, David Klugh, and the other 3 witnesses were out to get Tony Thomas. I
wrote this in hopes to clear his name and for people to think twice before assuming and cyber bullying a
person.
3 Grand Jurors agree to this statement. My time as a member of a civil Grand Jury during the Tony
Thomas allegations were without a doubt one of the most stressful experiences I ever had in my life. I
could go on and on about my disdain towards my time listening to various people reciting the same
testimony with different points of view, but I am going straight to the point. From the collective testimonies
that I have sat through, the general concensus seems to me that Tony Thomas is not a child predator nor
did he use city funds to finance personal trips. There was no evidence to support the claim of Mr.
Thomas having access to use city funds whatsoever; regardless of how luxurious Mr. Thomas portrays
his life on social media, these trips have been paid for by Mr. Thomas and only compensated by the City if
said trips were related to city related endeavors. As far as the accusations toward Mr. Thomas "sexual
activities", it was not in the interest of the majority of the jury to question the Alderman's sexual
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preferences/orientation as being "heterosexual" or "homosexual" would not matter if this case would have
been excalated to Criminal Grand Jury. From the testimonies we heard from the alleged victims, while
there were consistencies with the accusations made against the Alderman there simply was not enough
credibility to support these statements for various reasons. I do believe that the alleged victims have
gone through many hardships and mental anguish in their life times. However, I fail to see how Alderman
Thomas was, beyond a reasonable doubt, directly responsible for afflicting said anguish. While the
argument could be made about how Alderman Thomas might have "groomed" (A. C.), the testimonies
we've heard support the opposite. I truly feel sorry for the alleged victims and their loved ones for going
through such a turbulent time in their lives at the moment and hopefully they will receive the assistance
they need to cope with their problems/inner demons.
In closing, the Grand Jury requests that, pursuant to Georgia code, this general presentment be published in the
local legal organ, the Savannah Morning News.
Respectfully submitted,

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Madison C. Boyd, Foreperson
Candis V. Brown, ProTem Foreperson
Lisa Gernigian, Secretary
June 2016 Term
Eastern Judicial Circuit

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NOTICE OF CIVIL INSPECTION AND INVESTIGATIO~;

BY GRAND JURY
IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF CHATHAM COUNTY

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STATE OF GEORGIA
In Re:

Investigation

of
Savannah Chatham Metropolitan
Police Department
Adequacy of Criminal Investigation of Elected Offici

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Chatham County Grand Jury

Proceedings, June 2016
Term
TO:

Hon. Joseph Lumpkin, Chief

Savannah Chatham Metropolitan Police Department

NOTICE OF CIVIL INSPECTION AND INVESTIGATION

Comes now, Madison Boyd, Foreperson of the Chatham County Grand Jury for the June, 2016 Term of
the Superior Court and shows:
1.
On June 6, 2016, this Grand Jury was empaneled as provided by law.
2.
Under the provisions of O.C.G.A.15-12-71, this Grand Jury is authorized to inspect and investigate the
Savannah Chatham Metropolitan Police Department, a public authority of Chatham County.
3.
On July 27,2016, in accordance with O.C.G.A. 15-12-71 (b) (2), eight or more of the members of the
Grand Jury voted that it was necessary to conduct an inspection and investigation of Savannah
Chatham Metropolitan Police Department concerning the investigation of Savannah Alderman, Frank

Anthony Thomas. In accordance thereof the Grand Jury has appointed all of its members to serve as a
committee to conduct said inspection and investigation.

4.
The scope of this inspection and investigation is to examine whether allegations of unlawful sexual
conduct by Savannah City Alderman,

Frank Anthony Thomas, aka, "Tony Thomas", that were

reported for criminal investigation to the Savannah Chatham Metropolitan Police Department (SCMPD),
a county agency, were adequately investigated when such investigation was delegated by SCMPD to
the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to avoid the appearance of impropriety and whether such
investigation produced evidence sufficient for another grand jury to consider the filing of criminal
charges. It is the intent of this Grand Jury to conduct a full and fair inspection and investigation in this
matter in accordance with all applicable laws.
5.
The Grand Jury has requested that the District Attorney meet with you on August 22, 2016 and from
day to day thereafter in the Grand Jury room in the Chatham County Courthouse to begin the
inspection and investigation.

6.

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You will be provided the opportunity to appear before the Grand Jury and to testify, under oath
concerning this matter.

In addition, you will be afforded the opportunity to review the findings and

conclusions of the Grand Jury prior to their submission as a General Presentment to the Superior Court
and to submit any response which you may wish to make to the Grand Jury's findings and
recommendations.

Any response which you submit will be appended to the General Presentment

which the Grand Jury submits for publication in accordance with O.C.G.A. 15-12-71 (b) (3) and
15-12-80.

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Respectfully Submitted, this 27 1h day of July, 2016

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

This is to certify that I have this date served the below-named individual with a copy of the above NOTICE OF

CIVIL INSPECTION AND INVESTIGATION BY GRAND JURY by:

.JQL_ depositing same in the United States Mail in a properly addressed envelope with sufficient
postage thereon to:
Joseph Lumpkin, Chief
Savannah Chatham Metropolitan Police Department
201 Habersham St.
Savannah, GA 31401

This 27th day of July, 2016.

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Z e Gr en
lega Assistant IV
District Attorney's Office, E.J.C.
Office of District Attorney
Eastern Judicial Circuit
PO Box 2309
Savannah, GA 31402

912 652-7308

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