TBI asked to investigate Cleveland, Tenn., police officer in sex abuse case

Ross Allen Wooten

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has taken up the case involving a Cleveland police officer who was suspended this week.

TBI spokeswoman Kristin Helm said the agency will investigate allegations against Officer Ross Wooten.

Helm said in an email that "The victim filed a formal complaint with the Cleveland Police Department alleging that Wooten, who is an officer with the department, sexually assaulted her at her residence."

Helm said the TBI was asked to take the case by the 10th Judicial District Attorney General's office on Thursday, and that results of the investigation will be turned over to his office.

The Times Free Press reported this week that Wooten was criminally charged in 2006 after two women reported he forced them to have sex. He was found not guilty on one count and the other was dismissed. Similar allegations in 2005 by a third woman were reported to be unsubstantiated after an internal affairs investgation, according to newspaper archives.