ERIE COUNTY — A former Erie County Sheriff’s Office detective is currently under investigation by Ohio BCI for an alleged inappropriate relationship with a woman who is a current defendant in a court case.
On April 19, Erie County Sheriff Paul Sigsworth received an email that raised concerns within the department.
“We received a tip that had information about inappropriate activity that was alleged to have occurred between one of our detectives and a female,” said Sigsworth.
According to Sigsworth, the department immediately started an internal investigation with the information they received. He said the deputy was allegedly involved in an inappropriate relationship with a female defendant who is currently under indictment in the Erie County Common Pleas Court for multiple felonies.
“As soon as possible, we contacted BCI because of the fact that it appeared that there could be some criminal activity involved, as well as a violation of our internal policies,” said Sigsworth
It was determined that BCI would do a criminal investigation, and the Erie County Sheriff’s Office would continue its internal investigation. At the time the tip was received, the deputy was on a pre-approved vacation out of state.
“The employee returned from his vacation last Saturday and he was immediately put on administrative leave when he returned to the state,” said Sigsworth.
The deputy was scheduled for a disciplinary hearing on Tuesday, April 29, but declined to participate in the internal investigation by submitting his resignation, which the sheriff’s office immediately accepted.
Sigsworth said that when he first saw the email, he was disappointed.
“I was very disappointed because it certainly seemed to be credible information that were issues that immediately needed to be addressed,” said Sigsworth.
Law enforcement has long-standing policies that stress the importance of keeping a professional relationship with anyone who is under criminal investigation.
“You do not engage in any type of relationship except a professional relationship with someone that's under indictment, because all types of allegations can be made as to what is being promised as part of that relationship,” said Sigsworth.
In such cases, use of force expert Kalfani Ture says it can compromise an investigation.
“We must uphold the highest level of integrity. And cases or incidents like this can lead to charges being dismissed, evidence being suppressed, or evidence being removed,” Ture said.
Sigsworth said these actions can diminish the community's trust in their agency.
“That’s the saddest thing. And one individual that can engage in this type of activity can cause many problems that are not deserved for the other people that work here,” said Sigsworth.
Sigsworth said situations like this do not happen often, but moving forward, they plan to move as quickly as possible to remediate the situation if they get complaints again.
“We're not going to try to hide anything, conceal anything. We're going to do what we need to do to take care of that so the public can maintain the trust that they have in us,” said Sigsworth.
The internal investigation at the sheriff’s office is done, but BCI is actively investigating the criminal investigation.
