MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Goodwill worker was suspended from his job, accused of inappropriately touching a woman dropping off donations.
Robert Whitten is charged with sexual battery. He’s accused of coming up behind a woman as she was getting clothes out of her trunk and inappropriately touching her with his groin. The woman told police he did this twice.
When officers looked at security footage from the Kirby Parkway Goodwill store where she was dropping off the clothes, they ruled her claims to be true.
But those who know Whitten are coming to his defense tonight.
“Don’t nobody believe it,” said a friend who answered the door at Whitten’s address Monday.
His friend Darren Hendrix said Whitten has a child and is a good guy.
“Once he told me about it I was like dang, that’s crazy. He said they rewinded the cameras. He innocent, he should be.”
An employee at Goodwill said Whitten no longer works there — WREG later learned he had been suspended, not fired — and also came to her former coworker’s defense, saying she didn’t see him do anything wrong.
We reached out to Goodwill’s corporate office, a spokesperson said they are aware of the incident and their security leaders are working with Memphis Police. They also said Whitten has been suspended during the investigation.