Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan will have to respond to questioning about a purported deputy "sex ring" and his alleged sexual relationship with a woman who was part of the ring.

In an order filed Wednesday evening, Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Timothy denied the sheriff’s request for a protective order that would shield him from having to give a deposition in a civil lawsuit Friday. The lawsuit centers around allegations the sheriff purposely ignored widespread sexual activity between his deputies and a former employee named Leah Manning, and that Manning’s children were harmed as a result.

The deposition Friday will center around Leah Manning’s recent claim that she had sex with the sheriff approximately five times. Morgan — who has denied ever meeting Manning — argued the deposition would be a “fishing expedition” with no relevance to the case, but Timothy disagreed.

“It is beyond question that any sort of personal relationship that Defendant Morgan might have had with Manning could have affected the fulfillment of his duties as Sheriff in the investigation and supervision of his own deputies,” the judge wrote. “Accordingly, the court finds that Plaintiff has met this burden to establish relevance.”

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The judge also declined to seal the deposition, meaning the sheriff’s responses to questioning will be a matter of public record.

As part of her decision, Timothy cited a press conference Morgan called Wednesday afternoon to publicly address the allegations against him.

“His willingness to voluntarily appear and publically answer questions (identical or similar to those Plaintiff’s counsel wishes to ask of him at his deposition) undermines any claim that his deposition testimony should be sealed,” the judge wrote. “It likewise undermines his claim that as a high ranking public official he should not be compelled to testify, as he voluntarily appeared on air and voluntarily answered questions about this case posed to him by the media.”

There are two civil lawsuits filed against Morgan by Manning’s two daughters, who both respectively claimed they were sexually abused by former deputies engaging in sexual activities at the Manning household. One deputy, Mark Smith, was acquitted of criminal charges, and the other, Walter Thomas, was convicted and sentenced to 30 years in prison. Leah Manning and her husband, Doug Manning, were also convicted of abuse charges and sentenced to 25 and 30 years in prison respectively.

Their children are seeking a civil trial and compensatory damages from the sheriff and deputies.

Kevin Robinson can be reached at krobinson4@pnj.com or 850-435-8527.