Comptroller's office employee accused of inappropriate sexual behavior at work resigns

ORLANDO, Fla. — An Orange County comptroller's office employee resigned Friday, one week after it was revealed that she was hired while under investigation by Orange County for displaying inappropriate sexual behavior at work.

"Karen Peters submitted her resignation this morning, and we accepted it," agency spokeswoman Cathy Dixon said.

Peters gave a verbal resignation and tried to take it back but wasn't allowed to, the office said.

"Thank you for the opportunities that you have given me," Peters said in her handwritten resignation letter.

A 31-page investigative report said Peters improperly photographed a University of Central Florida intern's backside and shared the photo in a sexually explicit conversation on Facebook. Peters also sent photos and video of herself masturbating at her desk, the report said.

Prior to being hired by the office of Orange County Comptroller Phil Diamond, Peters worked for the county's Human Resources Division, which is a separate entity.

Jacobs said she told her senior staff to warn the comptroller's office that Peters was under investigation, and she wanted the office to hold off on the hire until the investigation was complete.

Diamond told Channel 9 Tuesday that his office knew Peters was under investigation when she was hired, but he said his office didn't have details and didn't know how serious the allegations were.

"You've got someone who's been with the county 17, 18 years," he said. "People knew her. People had worked with her. People were impressed with her work ethic, with her technical skills."

The comptroller's office will no longer hire job candidates who are under investigation at the workplace, Diamond said Tuesday.

Peters worked for the county for almost 18 years.

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