• • 
• • Nashville Mayor Megan Barry resigns in felony plea deal after affair with bodyguard
• • Robert Forrest: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know
• • Nashville police chief condemns Rob Forrest's 'betrayal of the citizens'

Well, it's over ..... or is it? On the way downtown yesterday, I felt no joy in learning that former Mayor Barry was about to resign, only sadness for our city, her family, the Forrest family, etc, but also relief. I think it was pretty clear that there must have been a lot more to come out that drove her to make a deal with the DA and 'take her punishment' such as it is.

The statement that she made was all about her and not once did she express any regret about what she had done and put those families and our city through.  It is my hope and prayer that at some point she will truly come to know REAL repentance (not just regret) and experience the forgiveness that only Jesus offers to each of us. She is a smart, gifted woman, who is still fairly young and could have a productive future.

We need to be praying for Mayor David Briley as he unexpectedly steps into this position. 

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Nashville Mayor Megan Barry resigned Tuesday after pleading guilty to stealing thousands of dollars from the city while carrying on an extramarital affair with her bodyguard.

The rising Democratic star had been an extremely popular mayor with an ambitious agenda to transform the city into a major urban center when she stunned residents earlier this year by admitting to the affair. Her downfall was swift and she will be replaced Tuesday by the city's vice mayor.

"While my time today as your mayor concludes, my unwavering love and sincere affection for this wonderful city and its great people will never come to an end," she said at a news conference shortly after she appeared before a judge.

In court, Barry didn't say how she stole money from the city, but an investigation found that she was engaged in her relationship with her bodyguard while on city-paid trips. Authorities also found a nude photo and partially nude photo of a woman that were taken by the phone of her bodyguard, Sgt. Robert Forrest, while was on duty.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation did not identify the woman in the photos and Barry has said that if the photos are of her, they were taken without her knowledge or permission.

The nude and partially nude photos were shot last May and October, on days that Barry's travel schedule shows she was on separate Washington trips.
 

The investigation into the mayor's affair came as the national outcry to call out sexual misconduct led to high-profile resignations from prominent elected officials and executives. Barry has said she doesn't want the affair to muddy the "Me Too" women's movement, since her affair was about middle-aged, consenting adults who had feelings for each other.

Shortly after the mayor's resignation, Forrest pleaded guilty to the same felony theft charge and agreed to reimburse the city $45,000 that was paid to him as salary or overtime when he was not performing his duties as the mayor's security detail.

The investigation found the photos in Forrest's work email and said they had been taken by his phone. There were also 260 deleted chats between Forrest's phone and Barry's phone number as well as 35 deleted call logs, an affidavit said.

The mayor agreed to reimburse the city $11,000. Both Barry and Forrest were sentenced to three years of probation.

"If you do what you're supposed to do you can have this matter dismissed and expunged," the judge told Barry.

Barry, 54, was riding high when news broke in late January that she had been having an affair with Forrest, whose wife filed for divorce soon after the affair became public. Barry acknowledged the affair but denied any wrongdoing and rebuffed calls for her resignation.

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Longtime Nashville mayoral bodyguard Sergeant Robert Downs Forrest Jr., who by default via his resignation admitted to having an affair with now-former Mayor Megan Barry, has pleaded guilty to theft and is being sued by his wife for divorce.

Barry pleaded guilty to theft Tuesday as well and also resigned as mayor of Nashville Tuesday morning.

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Metro Nashville police Chief Steve Anderson released a statement Tuesday following the conviction of retired Sgt. Rob Forrest, Mayor Megan Barry's bodyguard with whom she engaged in a longterm affair.

"Today's conditional guilty plea by Rob Forrest and the associated statement of facts are indicative of his betrayal of the citizens of Nashville and the men and women of this police department," Anderson said in a statement to USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee.

Along with Barry, who resigned on Tuesday, Forrest pleaded guilty Tuesday to felony theft of property of more than $10,000

He was given three years probation, and as a term of the probation is required to reimburse Nashville $45,000 paid to him as salary. 

According to Davidson County Sheriff's Office records, he was booked into the Metro jail downtown at 12:36 p.m.

Jail records show he was released from custody at 2:11 p.m

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A special council committee created to investigate possible misuse of taxpayer funds involving Mayor Megan Barry's affair will continue its work, but on a more limited basis.

The seven-person Metro Council investigative committee, during a late-night debate, weighted whether it was still needed after Barry resigned and pleaded guilty to felony theft charges.

But in a 5-2 vote, the committee agreed to scale back its planned meetings, to await a separate inquiry by a Metro audit committee. That committee is examining overtime and travel expenses incurred by former police Sgt. Rob Forrest Jr., the bodyguard with whom the mayor admitted having an affair.

The committee also voted 5-2 to retain outside council to work for no more than 15 hours to assist the audit committee. Any additional hours would have to be approved by the investigative committee.

Councilmember Bob Mendes, who had pushed the committee to continue in its original work, urged the audit committee to conduct a "full and robust" investigation

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Megan Barry resigned as Nashville's mayor after accepting a plea deal on theft charges in criminal court.

Her husband Bruce Barry has remained quiet but supportive of his wife during the scandal of his wife's affair with her bodyguard

Following her resignation, Bruce released a statement - the words of entertainer Groucho Marx.

"Learn from the mistakes of others. You can never live long enough to make them all yourself."

By Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large

Updated 12:29 PM ET, Tue March 6, 2018
 

(CNN)Nashville Mayor Megan Barry resigned Tuesday, just more than a month after news first broke of an extramarital affair between her and her former bodyguard. The scandal has engulfed the city and, with Barry's resignation, ended the career -- for the foreseeable future of a Democratic rising star.

But she stumbled on questions about whether taxpayer money might have been misused to conduct of her affair and she refused to say when the affair had ended. Other consultants were horrified that she appeared alone on stage without any visible show of support and that the questions weren't limited.