Police: N. Charleston mayoral candidate offered undercover cop c - Live5News.com | Charleston, SC | News, Weather, Sports

A Live 5 News investigation has revealed one of the candidates for North Charleston mayor has a criminal record, a prior arrest for offering to pay an undercover officer for sex.

According to Charleston County Detention Center records, John Singletary was arrested in January, 2010 for soliciting prostitution.

An incident report states the incident and arrest happened on Remount Road. Investigators say the undercover sting was caught on surveillance video and audio, and that Singletary offered to pay the officer $20 for sex.

On Tuesday, Singletary denied it happened.

"Not only did they return my money because it was a false arrest, but I never went to court, I never had to show up," Singletary said.

That is not correct, according to documents obtained by Live 5 News.

Records from North Charleston Municipal Court show Singletary was required to come to court. He was tried in his absence and had to forfeit $470 bail.

We called Singletary on the phone to give him another chance to respond but a message said the mailbox was full and could not accept any messages.

During our on camera interview, Singletary accused Mayor Keith Summey of using tax dollars to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by two former employees.

"He's using the checkbook of the city for his misconduct and then they settle out, at least seven high priced attorneys are being paid. They settle out for an undisclosed amount," Singletary said.

Summey declined to comment, but city spokesman Ryan Johnson issued a statement on the mayor's behalf.

"The claims against Mayor Summey were dismissed over 16 years ago. There were separate claims against the city that were settled, however the settlement agreement clearly states that no money was paid on account of claims against Mayor Summey. There is little merit in revisiting dismissed claims from the last century," the statement reads.

Singletary doesn't think his solicitation for prostitution arrest will hurt him on election day.

"It has nothing to do with the campaign,"he said.

We also did background checks on the three other mayor candidates.

Summey, Chris Collins and Clifford Smith do not have criminal records, according to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.

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