California firefighters placed on leave as probe proceeds

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Sixteen state firefighters have been placed on paid leave following allegations of a sex tape with prostitutes. This investigation all started from a murder case, when a former Cal Fire battalion chief was charged with murdering a prostitute who was his girlfriend at the time.

Orville "Moe" Fleming, 55, is in jail and is accused of stabbing Sarah Douglas, 26, to death. He led investigators on a weeks-long manhunt and was found hiding in a bush near a bus stop in Sacramento.

Here's where the suspended firefighters come in to play. During the manhunt and murder investigation in May, Fleming's estranged wife, who lives in Clovis, told Action News there was a sex tape involving Fleming, Ione Fire Academy firefighters and prostitutes. Meagan Fleming claimed the sex tape is the reason Orville Fleming allegedly killed the victim.

New this week, initial findings from a California Highway Patrol probe have found there is no sex tape. Nor was there any use of prostitutes or other improper sexual activity on state time or equipment, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokeswoman Janet Upton said. But during the CHP's investigation into the allegations, they found that 16 Ione Fire Academy firefighters violated some type of state law.

"The extent of those violations, we won't know until that full report is done within the next week. After that's done and we start to get that documentation in then we'll know what proper steps to take forward," said Cal Fire Public Information Officer Daniel Berlant.

Those 16 Cal Fire firefighters have been placed on paid leave, which is standard protocol, according to Berlant.

We have reached out to Meagan Fleming but haven't heard back. Action News has learned the 16 firefighters are all assigned permanently to work at the Ione Fire Academy, so this means they're an instructor in some sort of capacity.

In the next few weeks when the full CHP report is released, we'll know what type of allegations have been made against them and what steps Cal Fire will take next.

Fleming's attorney, Peter Kmeto, said he was aware of Meagan Fleming's comments but he never found a sex tape as part of his investigation, and Monday's developments will have no bearing on the criminal case.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.