Business Owner Arrested After Allegedly Spanking Two Employees

RED BANK, Tenn. -- The owner of a shaved ice business was arrested after two employees claimed he spanked them for making mistakes at work. Paul Eugene Levengood, 57, was charged with two counts of sexual battery after the 19-year-old women complained.

One of the women told police that on her first day at the Tasty Flavors Sno Biz, Levengood made her sign a statement that said: "I give Gene permission to bust my behind any way he sees fit."

Police Sgt. Jay LaMance said the women likely accepted the spankings instead of leaving immediately because they were "brought up to respect anybody who is an authority figure."
One of the women told police Nov. 1 that she "was shocked at the incident but could not leave because she had no transportation." The other woman said she continued to work for Levengood for more than a year after she was spanked and that he told her "either she could be spanked or be fired."

Police say one of the women reported that on Oct. 30, her fourth day on the job, Levengood called her "into the back room of the store" after she forgot to put a banana in a smoothie drink.
She said that as punishment Levengood "bent her over his knee and spanked her behind 20 times." She said that a day earlier he "snapped a photograph of her behind" as she reached for a bottle on a shelf.

Levengood was freed on $2,000 bail pending a Nov. 16 court hearing. His franchise in this Chattanooga suburb was closed Tuesday.

At the company headquarters in Minneapolis, sales manager Tom Novetzke described Levengood as a "very Christian person," adding that "We've never had a complaint."