‘Secret peeping’ charges prompt small town police chief to quit, NC officials say

The police chief of Newton Grove, North Carolina, has resigned after being accused of engaging in “secret peeping,” according to town officials.

Police Chief Greg Warren is no longer a town employee “effective immediately,” officials said in a Jan. 13 news release.

Sampson County jail records show Warren, 50, was arrested Wednesday, Jan. 7, and he was denied bond at a court appearance on Jan. 8.

Warren faces seven charges, including: one felony count of indecent liberties with a minor; two felony counts of secret peeping and four felony counts of possessing images derived from secret peeping, the N.C. Bureau of Investigation says.

“The Sampson County Sheriff’s Office requested the SBI’s assistance regarding allegations they received, and the SBI initiated an investigation,” the SBI reported in a Jan. 8 news release. “As a result, Warren has been taken into custody.”

Details of allegations against Warren were not released. Court documents report the indecent liberties charge is related to an incident in July 2023, and the secrete peeping charges are related to evidence from April 2025.

WTVD reports Warren took photos of a sleeping minor he knew, and “the images were found on his iPad.”

District Attorney Ernie Lee told the Sampson Independent he was contacted about the investigation Jan. 5 “and together, he and (Sampson County) Sheriff Jimmy Thornton decided to pursue charges against Warren.”

Warren was sworn into office April 8, 2019, and he is a husband and father of three, the Sampson Independent reported in a 2019 Facebook post.

Town officials say steps have been taken to ensure there is “no lapse in law enforcement services.” A replacement for Warren was not named in the news release.

Newton Grove has a population of just under 600 people and is about a 45-mile drive southeast from downtown Raleigh.

This story was originally published January 8, 2026 at 11:44 AM with the headline "‘Secret peeping’ charges prompt small town police chief to quit, NC officials say."