Arrested former Vance Co. jail officer was fired from Wake EMS

A Carolina Public Press investigation has uncovered a history of disciplinary action around alleged misconduct while working for at least one previous governmental employer for a former Vance County detention officer who was arrested last month on sexual assault charges.

Former Capt. Shannon Charles Holley, an officer with the Vance County Detention Center who had resigned in March, was indicted and arrested on April 13, charged with a series of sex crimes against a female detainee at the jail.

While Sheriff Curtis Brame of Vance County told CPP that he was unaware of any other past disciplinary issues or allegations of sexual assault against Holley while he was working at the jail, a records request that CPP made to Wake County uncovered a termination letter that shows Holley has a history of alleged misconduct that goes beyond the Vance County jail.

Holley was terminated from Wake County Emergency Medical Services in 2023 due to a series of allegations of harassment and retaliation from staff, the termination letter said.

Holley’s attorney, Trevor Guyton, said he was unaware of Holley’s termination from Wake EMS and didn’t wish to comment on it at this time. Guyton can’t comment on the criminal case at this time either, he said.

Between the jobs in Wake and Vance, Holley also worked briefly for the Johnston County detention center. The reasons for his resignation from Johnston County remain unclear.

CPP also reached out to Brame again to ask whether he knew of Holley’s termination from Wake EMS before hiring Holley, but the sheriff didn’t respond prior to publication.

The serious charges against Holley and the revelations about his troubled employment history raise new questions about the effectiveness of job screening and certification processes for law enforcement officers in North Carolina.

CPP’s recent investigative series Stray Cops revealed systemic issues in North Carolina that allow widespread re-employment of officers with disciplinary issues who go on to engage in additional misconduct.

Alleged attacks on Vance Co. detainee

Chad Flowers, the public information director for the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, told CPP the investigation into Holley first began when the sheriff learned of an allegation against him and immediately relayed it to their agency.

Brame said he also contacted the office of Mike Waters, the district attorney for the state’s 11th prosecutorial district, who said allowing the SBI to investigate rather than the sheriff himself helps prevent a conflict of interest.

“Because an employer can compel an officer to answer questions to keep his job, it interferes with the constitutional right against self-incrimination,” Waters told CPP. “That could compromise the integrity of the investigation.”

Agents from the SBI’s Capital District began looking into Holley on March 9, roughly two weeks before he resigned. Their investigation into the allegations against Holley spanned a month, ultimately resulting in his arrest in April, according to a Facebook post from the SBI.

“First and foremost, I appreciate the courage displayed by the victim in reporting the incidents,” Waters said in the Facebook post. “I am also appreciative of the collaboration between Assistant District Attorney Charity Wilborn and the SBI for the swift and thorough attention given to this matter.”

In total, Waters said three separate incidents have been alleged that all occurred while the victim was in the custody of the Vance County jail. Holley is now facing charges for these offenses that date back to February, including assault on a female, second degree forcible sexual offense and second degree forcible rape, according to court records.

Flowers told CPP that no additional charges have been filed since Holley’s initial arrest and indictment. As of now, they believe there is only one victim, but he said the investigation is still ongoing and there could potentially be more.

Holley’s first court appearance was on April 14 and his arraignment is currently scheduled for June 9, according to court records. It’s too early in the proceedings for Holley to have entered a plea yet, Waters said, and he thinks they are some time away from a trial, if the case does go to trial.

History of alleged misconduct

Holley was dismissed from Wake EMS in February 2023 for “unacceptable personal conduct” following allegations from staff of harassment and retaliation, his termination letter said.

The allegations were made via complaint forms and submitted to employee relations on Dec. 24, 2022, and Jan. 5, 2023. The complaints alleged that Holley would yell at, bully and intimidate staff to the point that it “impacted their performance,” the letter said.

Employee relations investigated the allegations and interviewed several EMS staff, ultimately finding that Holley’s conduct was disrespectful, disruptive and “inconsistent with public service.” Holley denied the allegations against him, claiming the staff were using them to distract from their own poor performance, the termination letter said.

Holley was employed by Wake EMS for more than a decade, working there from February 2010 until he was fired, according to Wake County public records. Despite multiple conversations over the years with leadership about his behavior, Holley failed to make any consistent changes, the letter said.

CPP spoke with one woman who previously worked with Holley at Wake EMS and she recounted experiences of harassment and inappropriate behavior from Holley toward her and others. She said things tended to be “swept under the rug” when it came to Holley, and asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation from him.

Flowers said the SBI is aware of Holley’s termination from Wake EMS. Waters said the termination was reported to him after Holley’s indictment, but he doesn’t see it as a relevant issue in the current criminal proceeding against him.

A few months after leaving Wake EMS, Holley went to work for the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office as a detention officer. He started on June 1, 2023, and worked there for almost six months before resigning on Nov. 29, 2023, said Jeff Caldwell, chief deputy at the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office.

Why Holley resigned from Johnston County remains unclear since Caldwell said he could only share Holley’s dates of employment.

CPP requested Holley’s forms of separation for both Johnston and Vance County from the North Carolina Department of Justice, which typically include the circumstances in which an officer is leaving an agency and whether their departure was the result of a criminal investigation. However, this information was redacted from the forms for both agencies when shared with CPP.

Nazneen Ahmed, communications director for the NCDOJ, said that information was “personnel-related” and couldn’t be released under certain state open record laws.

When CPP asked for further explanation, Ahmed pointed to a portion of the statutes that prevents the release of personnel records currently being used in a criminal investigation. Asked to confirm that she was saying both the Vance and Johnston County records were being used in the ongoing investigation, Ahmed did not respond prior to publication.

From Johnston County, certification records show that Holley went to work as a detention officer for the Vance County Sheriff’s Office. He started there in August 2025 and resigned on March 21, Brame said.

Certification process and how the jail operates

Before working at a sheriff’s office, applicants must go through a certification process by the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Education and Training Standards Commission, which is responsible for certifying justice officers that work in the 100 total sheriff’s offices statewide, according to the website.

Eddie Caldwell, executive vice president and general counsel for the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association, said applicants for certification are required to sign a form that allows for release of information about them, such as information from previous employers.

The sheriff’s office must do a background investigation on any applicant, so if they find out about a previous employer either from the applicant themselves or through their own investigation, they can use the release form to request information about the applicant from that employer, Caldwell said.

However, the sheriff’s office does have some discretion in how they choose to conduct their background investigations, and not all employers are cooperative in releasing information. Some employers may refuse to release information based on fear of liability, their own policy against it or other reasons, Caldwell said.

CPP reached out to Brame to ask what previous employers of Holley’s they were aware of and if they were contacted prior to hiring Holley, but Brame didn’t respond prior to publication.

There are two divisions in the sheriff’s office: one for sworn law enforcement deputies, the other for detention officers serving at the Vance County Detention Center. The screening process for both divisions is similar, except for the academies each division goes through, Brame said previously.

Screening processes for both divisions include a drug screening, physical, personnel board and interviews with the sheriff himself. Brame said Holley would have gone through this same process himself before starting at the jail.

The jail also has certain rules when it comes to inmates, mandating that no detention officer should ever be alone with a female inmate. This rule also applies to when they’re being taken to court, receiving medical attention or being transported to another facility, Brame said.

In Holley’s case though, this rule was clearly not followed.

“It was in place, but was it enforced? No,” Brame said. “He was a captain. He should have been the one to know better to do that.”

Brame previously praised Holley for his work at the jail at a Vance County Commissioner meeting in January, when Brame and Holley attended to discuss a budget amendment to address housing issues at the jail.

With Holley standing behind him, Brame described him as his “specialist” at the jail and commended him for doing “a great job.”

Struggles of Vance County jail

The Vance County Detention Center first opened in the early 1950s. The jail can hold up to 148 inmates but currently houses 90 to 100, and is “not state of the art,” Brame said.

The jail has faced many challenges over the past few years, including issues related to its age and “low staffing,” as well as a struggle to hire detention officers on a starting salary of $34,000 a year. After a series of assaults at the jail in 2022, Brame claimed they were in the middle of a “crisis” and urged Vance County commissioners to consider building a new facility, reported by WRAL News.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services even got involved at one point, highlighting “unsafe conditions” and “too few staff” following multiple inspections of the facility, which culminated in a letter to the jail in April 2025 demanding changes, reported by WRAL News.

Now, it appears Brame’s wish for a new facility is being granted.

“The Vance County Board of Commissioners did approve to build a new facility,” Brame told CPP. “We’re looking at land, and we’re trying to secure a loan, and that takes a little time, but yes, we’re moving forward to a new detention center for Vance County.”

Brame said this new facility should help with some of the issues they’ve been facing.

“The Commission is finally agreeing with the sheriff, realizing that the problems and the issues that we have are not going to go away if we continue to stay in that facility,” Brame said.