Lake sheriff wants prosecutors to give status of investigation of ex-lieutenant

Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran is asking that Lake County State's Attorney Mike Nerheim make public the status of a case involving a former sheriff's lieutenant accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a minor.

Curran said Thursday in a news release he turned over to prosecutors in 2012 evidence of misconduct against the former employee, but Nerheim has not filed charges or provided a status update about the case.

"We haven't been told anything about the case in over a year," Curran said in a telephone interview. "This doesn't sit well with me. It doesn't sit well with me at all."

In response, Nerheim said Curran should not use the case or the "uncooperative victim" as "a political football to advance the career of anyone."

"As the candidate making the request is a licensed attorney in the State of Illinois and current Sheriff of the County of Lake, he should be keenly aware that it is not only inappropriate, but unethical, to release all details of an open investigation by a prosecuting authority," Nerheim said in an emailed statement.

The former sheriff's employee was an expert in child sexual exploitation and spent much of his career investigating child sexual predators. The Daily Herald is not naming him because he has not been charged with a crime.

Curran said a media report at the time stated the employee had "numerous sexual encounters with an underage boy he met on a gay dating website," but the state's attorney's office claimed there was no evidence of a sex crime involving the minor because that person told the lieutenant he was of legal age.

The report stated there were other allegations of official misconduct involving the lieutenant that also were being investigated.

The lieutenant retired amid the controversy.

Curran said the case was brought to prosecutors in 2012 when former State's Attorney Michael Waller was in office. Curran said the investigation was continued under Nerheim after he won election as state's attorney and took over the office in December that year.

Curran said he asked Nerheim to use an independent prosecutor to investigate the case, but Nerheim balked because he didn't want to make his predecessor look bad.

He said Nerheim's office did not do enough to investigate the case, adding Nerheim should have obtained a search warrant for the lieutenant's personal computer.

"They never obtained a search warrant, and to me, that just reeks of wrongdoing," he said. "This should have been a major investigation and it was completely mishandled."

Nerheim said investigation details were previously disclosed to the sheriff's office because they employed the lieutenant.

"If the candidate is now seeking release of all details of an open investigation to the public at large, he should be directed to the Rules of Professional Conduct for prosecuting authorities as it outlines in detail the rules applicable to anyone who serves or desires to serve as the Chief Law Enforcement Officer in the county," Nerheim said in his statement.

Curran said there is nothing unethical about asking for a status update.

"He has not spoken to anyone in my office about the case since well over a year," he said. "His response is unsatisfactory."

Curran's public request for information in the case comes days after announcing he would run against Nerheim for state's attorney in the April 2016 Republican primary. Curran has been Lake County sheriff since 2006 while Nerheim was elected state's attorney in 2012.