Sarah Scully, Anchor/Reporter
Some of this footage may be disturbing to see and hear. It contains sexually explicit language.
Madison County Sheriff Buddy Harwood’s former Chief Deputy Coy Phillips, currently in jail awaiting trial for 5 felonies and 2 misdemeanors allegedly committed while working for Harwood, also reportedly sent a woman text messages Nov. 6, 2022 asking her for sexual favors in return for removing a felony criminal charge, as seen in these screenshots from a phone number verified by two former MCSO law enforcement officers and a social worker as the one Phillips used while working as Harwood’s chief deputy.
A non-profit agency vetted this source’s story, Phillips’ phone number used and the text message screenshots prior to this interview.
This information has been given to the SBI, and she has spoken to the lead investigator. This source has been granted anonymity for fear of retaliation.
Originally pulled over for an expired tag, she refused Phillips’ requested sexual favor and instead chose to plead guilty to a vehicle passenger’s drug possession.
She will only be shown from the chest down and with her voice altered.
“He pulled me in his office, which at the time I guess, was around the other side of the jail. And he told me that he wanted me to tell on somebody that I knew, and I wouldn’t do it,” she said.
“And then later, he texted me that we could trade sexual favors, and he would drop my charges and make them go away,” she said. “And when I told him no, well, he was like, I’ll make sure your charges stick.
“And I mean, they did.”
To the people who are watching this going, well, why doesn’t she show her face and why is her voice altered?
“Because I don’t want it to affect my kids in school,” she said.
Did he say why, that if you said anything, why people wouldn’t believe you?
“Because he was a cop, and I was a piece of shit drug addict, pretty much,” she said.
How did that make you feel?
“Pretty low, I mean, because he’s supposed to be an officer that helps you,” she said.
After I published stories on Phillips, Harwood and Harwood’s supervision of officers who the Disability Rights of North Carolina said in a February 2026 report tased and pepper sprayed children in Harwood’s Juvenile Detention Facility, an individual from the non-profit agency encouraged her to reach out to me.
“And she just talked to me and told me that there was a lot of stuff coming out and I should - if I wanted to - show somebody that they would be willing to listen to it since I had proof of it,” she said.
What do you think people will think when they hear your story?
“Either they’ll be happy that, you know, somebody actually came out with proof he was doing all this stuff that everybody has been saying for years, and that he needs to stay in jail,” she said.
“He doesn’t need to be out.”
Did you ever go talk to the sheriff?
“No,” she said.
Why?
“Because I don’t trust him either because he knows what’s gone on. I mean, it’s his Sheriffs department that he’s over,” she said. “They make up their own rules, and they don’t follow what is put in place to help everybody.
“They just do what they want, and they target a lot of people that do drugs or have criminal backgrounds because they’re not going to fight them in court…to say that they can do it, that they’ve got something over them.
“And he was trying to hurt certain people, and I don’t know what he got out of it.”
Do you think it was like a power trip?
“Pretty much,” she said. “It’s like saying that, you know, if you didn’t do something for him, he was going to put you in jail because he wasn’t getting his way.”
Why do you think nobody stopped him?
“Because they were scared of what he would do,” she said.
Including the sheriff?
“Yeah, because I think he’s got stuff on other people too,” she said.
Why did you keep those text messages from Coy?
“Because if I ever had the opportunity to show somebody that actually would believe me, I was going to do that just to prove to my kids that I didn’t just up and leave them,” she said.
So, if somebody’s not familiar with Madison County or Coy Phillips or Sheriff Harwood…somebody like living in Ohio, how would you explain this county and what happened to you, to them?
“It’s something that you would see on, you know, that you would see on a movie or something from a long time ago…like how police officers could do whatever they wanted and there was no rules they had to follow,” she said.
“And they could do what they wanted, if they didn’t get what they wanted, and they held it over your head about authority.”
Why do you think the Sheriff kept Coy around?
“So it took the attention off him,” she said.
Are you scared at all for your safety?
“Um, to an extent, but at this point, I really don’t care,” she said.
“I mean, they’ve already taken away everything else I had, so I mean they really can’t do too much more to me,” she said.
I reached out to Harwood Oct. 22 for comment, but he has not responded. He is up for re-election Nov. 3.
The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation arrested Phillips June 14 for actions allegedly committed while working for Harwood, including involuntary servitude of an inmate, assaulting a fellow officer with an AR-15 and giving alcohol, weapon, tobacco and drugs to an inmate.
He is currently in Avery County jail on a $1.5 million bond awaiting trial. District Attorney Seth Banks offered a plea deal, as seen in this Sept. 17 story.
With this source coming forward about Harwood’s former chief deputy, what charges or consequences could occur from a police officer asking for sexual favors in exchange for removing a criminal charge?
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Government Professor of Public Law and Government Jeffrey Welty said in an Oct. 25 email that there are three possible types of potential criminal, civil and employment and licensure consequences for an officer, including, “Under state law, such conduct may constitute the obstruction of justice. Depending on the facts and circumstances, it may constitute solicitation of prostitution or an attempted sexual assault. There are also potentially applicable federal laws, including the criminal statute prohibiting the deprivation of constitutional rights under color of law.”
Welty also said that the officer, the police agency and even the unit of local government could face a civil lawsuit under state law.
I also reached out to Phillips’ lawyer Sean Devereux about these text messages starting Oct. 21 for comment, but he was unable to talk with his client by press time.
NC Director of Sheriff’s Standards and Training Division Maj. William Mitchell, who oversees all 26,000 officers in the state, encouraged anyone uncomfortable reporting misconduct from Harwood or any deputies to this sheriff’s office to please contact him, as seen in this Oct. 2 story.
He said that for those scared of repercussions for speaking out that, “I will surely keep their concerns private my friend.”
His email is wmitchell@ncdoj.gov.
To see the earlier stories on Phillips, Harwood and the Juvenile Detention Center: https://www.wncgrassrootsmedia.org/news-and-investigative...
To see the DRNC report: https://disabilityrightsnc.org/.../no-place-for-kids-the.../
To read the full email from Welty:
“Hi Sarah,
I don’t have any comment on any specific individual or situation.
In general, when an officer is alleged to have offered to trade favorable treatment in a criminal case for something the officer wants such as money or sexual favors, there are at least three types of possible consequences.
First, there are potential employment and licensure consequences. That kind of behavior may violate the policies of the officer’s agency and may result in discipline up to and including termination. Agencies often have policies against conduct unbecoming an officer, the use of an officer’s position or authority to pursue personal gain, and sexual contact with suspects and defendants. Such behavior may also raise questions about the officer’s good moral character, which is a requirement of continued certification as a law enforcement officer. Certification questions are determined by the NC Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission for state and municipal officers, and by the NC Sheriffs’ Education and Training Standards Commission for deputy sheriffs.
Second, there are potential civil liability consequences. Such conduct could give rise to civil lawsuits under state law (for example, for intentional infliction of emotional distress) or under federal law (for example, for violation of the due process rights of the person from whom the officer sought sexual favors). In some cases, liability may extend beyond the individual officer to the agency or unit of local government as whole. That is most common when the plaintiff can establish a policy or practice of violating citizens’ constitutional rights.
Finally, there are potential criminal consequences. Under state law, such conduct may constitute the obstruction of justice. Depending on the facts and circumstances, it may constitute solicitation of prostitution or an attempted sexual assault. There are also potentially applicable federal laws, including the criminal statute prohibiting the deprivation of constitutional rights under color of law.
I hope that this is helpful.
