Clark County Sheriff's Department Hired Man Accused of Rape
Monday, May 23rd, 2016 -- 10:50 AM
(Jonathan Anderson, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin) -Clark County officials hired a part-time police officer after they were told he had been accused of violently raping a woman while at his previous police job, according to newly unsealed court records and a northern Wisconsin sheriff.According to Jonathan Anderson of USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin, the officer, Reserve Deputy Lee Lech, is still on Clark County’s payroll. Officials refused to tell USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin whether he is on active duty but pay records indicate he was as recently as this month. Lech began working for Clark County in November 2014 after he abruptly resigned from the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office months earlier. Oneida County would not divulge details about Lech’s departure at that time, but internal investigation records recently made public as part of an open-records lawsuit show a female public employee who worked with Lech accused him of sexually assaulting her five years ago.
The woman told the investigator the assault occurred in a hotel room while she and Lech were at a 2011 training seminar in Milwaukee, records show. Oneida County Sheriff Grady Hartman said he immediately started an internal investigation and placed Lech on administrative leave when he learned of the accusations in August 2014. Lech refused to answer questions and quit his job on Sept. 8, 2014; the internal investigation ended the same day, according to Hartman. Lech has not been criminally charged in connection with the allegations. Hartman told a USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin reporter that Oneida County lacked authority to pursue a criminal case because the assault reportedly happened in a different county.
Those responsible for hiring Lech said that all his references provided positive feedback, and that his Oneida County personnel file contained no negative entries. But Hartman claims otherwise; he said he met with officials in Clark County and voiced his concerns about Lech. Clark County Sheriff Gregg Herrick said in a statement that he was taking the accusations against Lech seriously and would “find out what happened prior to his employment with Clark County.”
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