Embattled Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts, accused of groping a teen Tuesday while taking a photo with a group of cheerleaders, has a long history of successfully fending off disturbing allegations against him.
asserted
Butts → embattle → him
Butts came under fire Wednesday for allegedly grabbing the butt of a teen while she posed for a picture with him at a city hall community event.
uncertain
she → come → event
Residents and activists in the community are pushing for the longtime mayor to resign.
asserted
mayor → push → community
His office denied any misconduct.
asserted
office → deny → misconduct
But Butts has survived a steady onslaught of otherwise devastating allegations, that have been dismissed, including a 1993 criminal referral alleging he molested his young daughter.
asserted
he → survive → daughter
His then-estranged wife, police sergeant Minnie Butts, said that their daughter told her that the former Santa Monica Police Chief “touched and penetrated her vagina with his finger,” according to the Los Angeles Times.
uncertain
Chief → estrange → Times
Minnie also alleged the mayor “choked her to unconsciousness” in 1991.
asserted
mayor → allege → 1991
Butts denied any wrongdoing at the time.
asserted
Butts → deny → time
The local district attorney declined to press charges in the matter, citing insufficient evidence.
asserted
attorney → decline → evidence
After finishing his career in law enforcement in 2006 and working a stint as head of security for the LAX airport authority, he won election as Inglewood’s mayor in 2011.
asserted
he → finish → 2011
He pledged to solve the city’s financial problems and boost its efficiency.
asserted
He → pledge → efficiency
“The city is in a precarious financial position,” Butts told the Los Angeles Times before he was elected.
asserted
he → tell → Times
“They need someone who has operational, executive, and public safety experience …
asserted
who → need → experience
One of his first controversial moves in office was to award a $100 million contract to a waste management company in 2012 that had hired his brother just months earlier.
asserted
that → award → brother
He personally profited from the deal, later reports showed.
asserted
reports → profit → deal
Meanwhile, he held a scandalous relationship with a city employee, Melanie McDade-Dickens, whom he first met in 2010 while she was a volunteer on his mayoral campaign.
asserted
she → hold → campaign
He hired her as his executive assistant when he won the election.
asserted
he → hire → election
Then he allegedly began soliciting her for workplace sex, demanding she do his laundry and massage his “aching feet” up to four times a day, according to a 2021 wrongful termination lawsuit filed against him.
uncertain
she → begin → him
Butts bumped McDade-Dickens’ pay up from $135,069 in 2013 to $349,077 in 2019 due to additional responsibilities, the lawsuit claims.
uncertain
lawsuit → bump → responsibilities
Butts is credited with bringing the Los Angeles Rams to the area.
asserted
Butts → credit → area
But as their relationship soured, he took away her extra assignments and began docking her pay, she claimed.
asserted
she → sour → pay
“I showed up at work every single day, I didn’t miss an assignment, I was at every meeting that he eventually allowed me to be in,” McDade-Dickens said at a 2021 press conference.
asserted
Dickens → show → conference
“I still maintained all of my daily activities, I never slacked.
asserted
I → maintain → activities
I would close my door sometimes and cry and bite my tongue, but I compartmentalized my work and my relationship.”
asserted
I → close → work
She was fired at the end of 2019.
asserted
She → fire → 2019
Her legal representation pointed to years of positive evaluations as evidence for her wrongful termination lawsuit.
asserted
representation → point → lawsuit
Texts shared from McDade’s Facebook account in 2022 show a texter who appeared to be Butts — named “FOREVA Mr. Butts” — accusing McDade of infidelity.
asserted
who → share → infidelity
In another text marked from June 2018, the person laments her “cold” demeanor and apparent move to Scottsdale.
asserted
person → mark → Scottsdale
“My whole life is destroyed with you,” the text says.
asserted
text → destroy → you
“You are so cold and so different and now you say you want to move to Scottsdale.
asserted
you → say → Scottsdale
I dont understand why you wont give us another chance…why you would just leave here…broken…”
asserted
you → understand → chance
Butts was allegedly obsessed with McDade-Dickens and began stalking her when she tried to end their relationship in 2018, her lawsuit claims.
uncertain
lawsuit → obsess → 2018
He allegedly began sneaking into her home to watch her sleep.
uncertain
her → begin → home
“When Ms. McDade attempted to end the relationship in 2018, it turned to stalking and obsession by Butts,” the lawsuit alleges.
asserted
lawsuit → attempt → Butts
“At first, Butts would not ‘allow’ Ms. McDade to break up with him.
asserted
McDade → allow → him
He called her hundreds of times, would go to her house, uninvited, sneaking in through the garage and stand over her bed watching her sleep.”
asserted
her → call → bed
The case was thrown out in November of last year after McDade-Dickens failed to file an opposition to a motion for a summary judgement.
asserted
Dickens → throw → judgement
An attorney representing the city called it “frivolous from the start.”
asserted
attorney → represent → start
McDade-Dickens had requested an extension to the summary judgement hearing after she said she was looking for “permanent housing” and did not have phone service.
asserted
she → request → service
Butts also caught fire when he allegedly retaliated against Inglewood’s former longtime treasurer, Wanda Brown, for speaking out about the city’s “declining cash balance, its increasing deficit spending and growing negative fund balance, the need to curb spending, and about the wasteful and expensive use of outside consultants,” in 2020, her attorney said.
uncertain
attorney → catch → 2020
…and 8 more, not listed.
The Aporia
