When she stood before the people of Nashville and admitted to having had an affair with her bodyguard, Mayor Megan Barry did her damnedest to ‘sex it down’. Little wonder.
The mayor tried to pass it all off as nothing more spicy than a ‘consensual relationship between two middle-aged people,’ personally regrettable but professionally irrelevant.
But the truth is a sordid tale of sexts, lies, international travel and bilking the taxpayers for tens of thousands of dollars – and one which relatives of the bodyguard, Rob Forrest, 58, say has hurt him far harder than the now disgraced ex-mayor.
Barry had persistently claimed to have broken no laws and violated no codes of ethics until Tuesday, when she dramatically pleaded guilty to felony theft charges to the tune of $10,000, and stepped down.
Within hours Forrest pleaded guilty to theft too – leaving them both as felons, each ordered to repay $10,000 and sentenced to three years probation.
Forrest must also repay $45,000 in salary earned. He had claimed so much overtime for his time spent with Barry that his police department earnings were second only to the city’s Chief of Police himself.
But his family have disclosed exclusively to DailyMail.com that the punishment does not end there.
The family of Rob Forrest (pictured in a police mugshot after his felony conviction), who was the bodyguard and lover of former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry, says he is the true victim of the torrid affair
Calm before the storm: Lying mayor Megan Barry was photographed by DailyMail.com before she came clean and admitted her guilt. But it is her lover who has suffered more, his family says
It’s over: Forrest’s wife, Penny, 53, (pictured together) filed for divorce the day after Barry publicly admitted to the affair. The couple was just three months shy of their 30th wedding anniversary, which they would have celebrated in May
Caught up: Forrest’s 26-year-old daughter Macy Amos (pictured with her husband Blake and their pet dog) has found her job as an attorney with the city placed under scrutiny – because it was the first new role created in two years and came with a recommendation from Barry and that no other candidates were interviewed
His daughter’s job is now in question, and the way in which he quit the police force ‘in good standing’ with full pension rights may now be subjected to further scrutiny.
Forrest submitted his letter of retirement ahead of the scandal breaking. He wrote his letter to the Chief on January 17 and asked for his retirement to be effective from January 31, the day the mayor – a Democrat who had campaigned as a social liberal – publicly outed their affair.
Because he retired ‘in good standing’ after 32 years service, he is currently entitled to an annual pension of $80,302.56.
Family members told DailyMail.com, he is struggling to cope with the catastrophic impact of the torrid two-year affair that now includes a criminal record.
The relative who declined to be named said he was ‘having a tough time of it’ and described him as ‘up to his neck dealing with the investigation, his personal life, his daughter.’
‘It’s very upsetting. We’re just trying to support him,’ they added.
Forrest’s wife, Penny, 53, filed for divorce the day after Barry publicly admitted to the affair. The couple was just three months shy of their 30th wedding anniversary, which they would have celebrated in May.
Divorce papers seen by DailyMail.com show that her cited cause was ‘irreconcilable differences and inappropriate marital conduct.’
And perhaps worst of all for Forrest, his 26-year-old daughter has found her own position as an attorney with the city, placed under scrutiny.
Macy Amos, a Belmont Law School graduate was appointed to the entry-level position last year.
It has since emerged that this was the first new role to be created in the department for two years, that it came with a personal recommendation from the Mayor and that no other candidates were interviewed.
Amos may find herself the collateral damage of her father’s torrid and expensive two-year affair with his boss.
Forrest appeared to have paid the immediate price, and until Tuesday Barry had tried to brazen it out giving every impression of business as usual as she attended meetings, listening sessions and discussions around the Tennessee city last week
Divorce papers seen by DailyMail.com show that Forrest’s wife Penny’s (left) cited cause was ‘irreconcilable differences and inappropriate marital conduct’.
‘In good standing’: Forrest submitted his letter of retirement a few days ahead of the scandal breaking – giving him an annual pension of $80,302.56 which now be scrutinized too
Barry and Forrest traveled as a couple to Athens, Paris, San Francisco, Denver, New York, Washington DC and beyond while the city footed the bulk of the bill.
They stayed in luxury hotels, extended ‘official visits,’ by days and nights and, in what would prove damning evidence that they conducted their affair on the public dime, Forrest took pictures of Barry both nude and with her skirt hitched up to her waist, exposing the fact that she was wearing sheer panty hose and nothing else.
Barry herself revealed the affair in an interview with News Channel 5 in Nashville, which had begun investigating her official spending.
Forrest appeared to have paid the immediate price, and until Tuesday Barry had tried to brazen it out giving every impression of business as usual as she attended meetings, listening sessions and discussions around the Tennessee city last week.
She gleefully tweeted the results of a poll that gave her a 61 percent approval rating.
Husband, Bruce, 60, re-tweeted the poll which was conducted by Vanderbilt University where he is, somewhat ironically, a professor of management with sociology with particular interests in ‘ethics, public policy and workplace rights.’
But that poll was completed before the scandal took a salacious and criminal turn.
Three separate investigations were launched; one by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations (TBI), one by the Nashville Metro City Council’s Ethical Board of Conduct and another by a special committee of the Nashville Metro City Council.
DailyMail.com has also been told that the City’s Comptroller of the Treasury is investigating Barry and Forrest’s conduct but a spokesperson for that office would not comment publicly.
Investigators uncovered 260 deleted chats between Barry and Forrest, 35 deleted call logs between the two and two deleted SMS messages.
Most damaging were two photographs recovered from Forrest’s email and taken on his iPhone during two trips on which he and the mayor were the only ones to travel.
The family of Rob Forrest (right), who was the bodyguard and lover of former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry, says he is the true victim of the torrid affair
What were they doing there? Security footage from Nashville City Cemetery revealed a series of early morning visits made by Barry with Forrest to the graveyard. The film shows her white SUV arriving usually after 7am and leaving sometimes as little as 12 minutes later
Graver error: At the time of the footage, Barry’s spokesperson said the reason for her visits to the graveyard was because she found ‘it to be a peaceful place to start her day’. In fact Robert Forrest appears to have been with her
Both were to Washington DC the first between and May 15 and 17, 2017 and the second from October 18 and 19, 2017.
Affidavits submitted by the TBI as probable cause for search warrants demanding electronic data from both Barry and Forrest’s email, cell phones and all other devices describe the images in grizzly detail.
Time stamps and number sequences make the context of when each photograph was taken undeniable.
The affidavit reads, ‘The image of is a nude female lying on a bed with a black purse beside her. In the properties of this image it is noted that the photograph was taken on May 15, 2017 at 16:29:20.’
The closest picture to this was taken the following morning, at 08:22:11 and shows Barry conducting a radio interview with the very same black purse by her side.
The second picture is, ‘of a woman’s vagina exposed through black pantyhose with what appears to be a black dress or skirt pulled up above the waist of the woman.’
The properties note that it was taken on October 18, at 15:39:54.
The closest picture to this was taken earlier that day, at 11:13:51 and shows Barry in a television studio wearing the same black outfit as would later be photographed hitched up around her waist.
Several photographs had been deleted from the sequences.
Time cards show that Forrest reported working a regular shift from 07:00 to 15:30 then overtime from 15:30 to 21:30 on May 15.
He claimed to have worked from 07:00 to 15:30 then claimed overtime between 15:30 and 23:00 on October 18.
Barry initially sought to deny that the woman in the photograph was her or, she said, if it were then the pictures were taken without her knowledge.
To investigators they were simply clear evidence that Forrest was claiming overtime and Barry claiming business expenses when neither were working but were, instead, ‘participating in the affair.’
Investigators uncovered 260 deleted chats between Barry and Forrest, 35 deleted call logs between the two and two deleted SMS messages. Most damaging were two photographs recovered from Forrest’s email and taken on his iPhone during two trips they took alone
A portion of the affidavit reads: ‘The image of is a nude female lying on a bed with a black purse beside her. In the properties of this image it is noted that the photograph was taken on May 15, 2017 at 16:29:20’
The second picture is, ‘of a woman’s vagina exposed through black pantyhose with what appears to be a black dress or skirt pulled up above the waist of the woman.’ The properties note that it was taken on October 18, at 15:39:54
In fact the pair were increasingly bold about the amount of time they spent exclusively in each other’s company with no other security or personnel present.
And a review of Forrest’s overtime claims reveals them to be eye-wateringly extravagant.
As head of security for Barry’s two predecessors he claimed an average of 650 hours overtime during the three fiscal years prior to her election.
In the two years after she took office, Forrest’s claims skyrocketed by a breathtaking 83 percent to 1189 hours while his colleague’s increased by 49 percent to an average of 606 hours.
City records obtained by The Tennessean show that Forrest earned $173,843.13 in overtime during his time on Barry’s detail.
Barry’s travel schedule shows that she did not travel with security personnel for the first four business trips taken during the first six months of her administration.
But starting in April 2016 she began traveling with security personnel on most of her out of town business trips.
The affidavit notes, ‘From April 3, 2016 to January 17, 2018 Megan Barry took 45 out of town trips. 10 of these trips were personal trips where she did not have security personnel.
Of the 35 business trips during this timeframe, she had security personnel with her for 30.
‘Rob Forrest was present on 26 of these trips. Ten of these trips show that Megan Barry and Rob Forrest are the only travelers on the trip.’
Investigators go on to note that there was ‘a marked increase in [the Mayors] trips with security around the same time that the affair began in Spring of 2016.’
But unlike Forrest, her marriage appears not to be over. Bruce Barry has given every public appearance of standing by his wife and when DailyMail.com approached him at the home (pictured), he declined to comment on any aspect of the scandal
Barry’s husband Bruce works at Vanderbilt, a professor of management with sociology with particular interests in ‘ethics, public policy and workplace rights’
Indeed Barry and Forrest were the only travelers on nine trips outside of Tennessee in 2017, including those trips to Washington DC.
They also traveled to France, where they visited Paris, and Greece where they went to Athens, as well as New York, Denver, Oakland and San Francisco; all funded by Nashville taxpayers.
Security footage from Nashville City Cemetery also revealed a series of early morning visits made by Barry with Forrest to the graveyard.
The film shows her white SUV arriving usually after 7am and leaving sometimes as little as 12 minutes later.
Further details of Barry’s schedule obtained by The Tennessean show that Forrest claimed overtime to accompany her to hot yoga classes, hockey games, fashionable restaurants and sometimes during times when no events were listed on Barry’s calendar at all or events listed only as ‘private.’
Barry lied that she was innocent until she took a plea deal on Tuesday and stepped down a felon.
But unlike Forrest, her marriage appears not to be over.
Bruce Barry has given every public appearance of standing by his wife and when DailyMail.com approached him at the home they share with their two aging rescue dogs, Hank and Boris, near Vanderbilt campus he declined to comment on any aspect of the scandal.