DA to Seek Charges Against Ex-Trooper Accused of Porn Star Tryst

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Prosecutors plan to seek an indictment against a former Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper after a porn actress wrote in her blog that she performed oral sex on him during a traffic stop and he took photos and video of the encounter.

District Attorney Tommy Thompson said Thursday that James Randy Moss, 40, could be charged with official misconduct and tampering with evidence, and the case is likely to be presented to a grand jury in July.

Since the allegations became public, more women have come forward to complain about inappropriate behavior by Moss, Thompson said in a phone call from Wilson County, the Nashville suburb where the first incident happened.

"If he wasn't such an idiot, this case would be his word against hers," Thompson said. "But he was such a genius he started sending all these photographs and everything. It blows my mind."

Moss' attorney Jack Lowery Sr. of Lebanon said he has talked to Thompson about the possible charges and hopes to speak to him again before the grand jury meets.

"I will be trying to see if there is a possibility of not seeking criminal charges in this situation because I think there is certainly room for that to occur," Lowery said.

Moss was allowed to resign as a trooper rather than be fired.

Using her porn film name "Barbie Cummings," Justis Richert, 21, of Knoxville, wrote on her blog that the trooper sent her photos and video of their encounter after he stopped her May 7.

Moss issued Richert a citation for speeding. The blog said that although she acknowledged having drugs she described only as "happy pills," the trooper threw them into the brush near the highway.

After telling him she makes "dirty movies," they watched sex videos in his patrol car and then he asked, "What does it cost for someone like me to get anything like you?" she wrote.

According to THP internal affairs records, Moss admitted to at least some of the blog's claims.

Lowery said the alleged sexual favor happened after Moss issued the ticket and after she made a comment to the trooper.

"He had done what he would have normally done under all the circumstances, had finished his work and was walking back to his patrol car and then the second thing occurred," Lowery said. "Maybe he used very poor judgment at that point. Maybe he succumbed to the weakness of human frailties."

Thompson said the new complaints about Moss included allegations that he asked women drivers to show him their breasts. Some of the complaints may be too old to prosecute because of the statute of limitations on felonies, he said.

"Once something becomes public then sometimes they are not really valid but other times people are afraid to come forward and then they see that now it's safe to come forward," Thompson said. "Those things have to be checked out because they could be the subject of charges also."

Lowery said he was not surprised by other people coming forward after hearing the story in the news, but he had "heard nothing that had substance to it."