[UPDATED] Nashville Mayor Expected to Resign Amid Multiple Investigations Into Affair With Bodyguard

Nashville Mayor Megan Barry is expected to announce her resignation Tuesday morning.

The mayor is being investigated for having an extramarital affair with her former bodyguard, Metro police Sgt. Robert Forrest, to which she admitted to back in January. At the time, Barry said she would not be resigning.

“We had an affair, and it was wrong, and we shouldn’t have done it,” Barry said. “He was part of my security detail, and as part of that responsibility, I should have gone to the [police] chief, and I should have said what was going on, and that was a mistake.”

The Democratic mayor is the first from Nashville to leave office before the end of their term in nearly a century, per The Tennessean.

On February 22, The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation filed an affidavit with a search warrant detailing two potential criminal violations on the mayor’s part: misconduct of public officials and employees, and theft of property. Barry admitted that on city business trips, she spent more time than was necessary in particular locations with Forrest – while taxpayer dollars paid for the expenses.

Investigators also found nude photos of Barry on Forrest’s phone. The two are apparently no longer seeing each other, and Forrest’s wife has filed for divorce.

“People that we admire can also be flawed humans, and I’m flawed, and I’m incredibly sad and sorry for the disappointment that I will see in those little girls’ faces. But, what I hope they can also see is that people make mistakes, and you move on from those.”

Forrest had worked as security detail for Nashville mayors as far back as 1999.

Before ascending to the mayorship, Barry was as an ethics and compliance officer at Premier Ethics and Compliance.

UPDATE 2:15 EST

Barry has resigned from her post as part of a felony plea deal. She admitted to stealing thousands of dollars while carrying on her affair with Forrest, though the details of how she stole the money is currently unknown. She has agreed to reimburse the city of Nashville $11,000. Both she and Forrest have been sentenced to three years’ probation.

[image via screengrab]