McHenry County Blog

This February 1, 2013, Chicago Tribune article may echo the situation the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office faced when Sgt. Greg Pyle was arrested for predatory criminal sexual assault.

It’s been over a year since McHenry County Sheriff’s Sgt. Greg Pyle was arrested for criminal sexual assault, but those with good memories might see some similarities with the problem facing the Lake County Sheriff’s Department in a Chicago Tribune story Friday.

First Sheriff Keith Nygren’s deputy was arrested in January, 2012, on state charges of predatory criminal sexual assault.

At the time, he was on the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force as a result of the job Nygren gave him.

Pyle stayed on the county payroll.

Then, in August, the Feds stepped in to arrest him for

• aggravated sexual abuse of a child and
• producing child pornography by the sexual exploitation of a child

Concurrently, the accused left Nyrgen’s payroll.

Now the Tribune is reporting that former Lake County Sheriff Lt. Rick White is being investigated for having sexual conduct with a teenage boy.

The internet Tribune headline reads,

“Prosecutors investigating allegation that former Lake County cop had sexual contact with teen, authorities say”

White was “on paid leave for two months” before he retired.

Not charged with a crime, the Tribune says.

But, White was an internet guy.

Similar job to Pyle’s.

A performance review, the Tribune reporters Dan Hinkel and David Heizmann found, said While was “a pioneer in the field of Internet child solicitation.

The Chicago Sun-Times had an article Friday about the Inspector General of Chicago having performed an audit on the evidence operation of the Chicago Police Department.

The headline reads, “Inspector: Police evidence controls lacking.”

The seven-month audit by Joe Ferguson found the Police Department employees could not find 2.8% of the sample chosen.

With former McHenry County Sheriff’s Sgt. Greg Pyle having been arrested for crimes unrelated to his evidence room supervision duties, the thought crossed my mind that an audit might be appropriate.

For the same reasons the audit was conducted in Cook County.

Just to see how secure that portion of the Sheriff’s Department is.

As you can see below, the arrest of former McHenry County Sheriff’s Sgt. Greg Pyle, who was in charge of the evidence room at the office, has been followed by his indictment:

McHENRY COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPUTY INDICTED ON FEDERAL CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE AND EXPLOITATION CHARGES

Greg Pyle

Rockford — A McHenry County Sheriff’s Deputy was indicted yesterday by a federal grand jury and charged with one count of crossing state lines to engage in a sexual act with a minor under 12 years of age, and one count of using a minor to engage in sexual conduct to produce child pornography.

The defendant, Gregory M. Pyle, 37, of Crest Hills, Ill., formerly of Crystal Lake, Ill., has been in custody since his arrest on a criminal complaint August 14, 2012.

According to court documents, an individual under investigation for child pornography identified the user names of other individuals with whom he had traded child pornography over the internet.

Pyle was allegedly identified as the person using two of those user names.

The complaint alleges that Pyle transmitted sexually explicit images via the internet under those user names, including depictions of a minor child.

During a later interview, the minor stated that Pyle had sexually abused him on multiple occasions, including on a trip to Wisconsin.

The complaint alleges that in December 2008 Pyle traveled to Wisconsin with the child, then 10 years of age, with the intent to engage in a sexual act with the child, and to produce child pornography that was then transmitted via the internet.

The indictment was announced by Gary S. Shapiro, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and William C. Monroe, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The Illinois State Police and the Illinois Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce assisted in the investigation.

The government is represented by Assistant United States Attorney Michael D. Love.

• Crossing a state line to engage in a sexual act with a minor under 12 carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years and a maximum of life in prison, and
• sexual exploitation of a child under 12 years of age for the purpose of producing child pornography carries a mandatory minimum of 15 years and a maximum of 30 years in prison, and
• both counts carry a $250,000 maximum fine.

If convicted, the actual sentence will be determined by a United States District Court Judge, guided by the United States Sentencing Guidelines.

The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Greg Pyle

The following comment has just appeared under the article about McHenry County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Greg Pyle’s having being denied bail in the Federal charges he is facing:

“This guy was my FTO (Field Training Officer) when I was hired as a deputy with McHenry County.

“And he was exactly why I left the FTO program…when I was less than a week from completing the program.

“No, not a ‘wash-out’, just resigned after seeing the quality and ethics of many of the deputies.

“This guy, Pyle, and my next FTO were just plain strange.

“Pyle would actually drive around with the patrol windows down and his radio cranking rap music so loud that I had to ask him if I could turn down the radio to hear our calls (not to mention I was just plain embarassed!).

“He got mad and wrote me up that day for being ‘mouthy’.

“One deputy, whom I won’t name in this post, actually told me ‘You drive around while I sleep’; and he did just that.

“He also showed me the ‘napping spots’.

“He’s been promoted to Sergeant.

“I was disgusted…and this changed my view of law enforcement forever.”

Incidentally, McHenry County State’s Attorney Lou Bianchi’s fund raiser is Thursday night at Boulder Hill Country Club.

With all the people interested in law enforcement that attend, there should be some interesting conversations.

If previous fund raisers are any indications, those without reservations will be welcomed.

Note this visit to McHenry County Blog came on a Saturday morning. Having been a Federal employee (in the United States Budget Bureau during the Lyndon Johnson Administration–Civil Service), I know dedicated employees work overtime. In fact, a U.S. Postal Inspector called me from his vacation in St. Louis asking for evidence that I believe helped convince Roger Stanley to strike a deal with the U.S. Attorney’s Office with regard to a mail fraud charge.

Now, I’ll admit the link did not come straight from Washington to McHenry County Blog.

And whoever from the Justice Department was looking was interested in Greg Pyle, who Friday was denied bail on of aggravated sexual abuse of a child and producing child pornography by the sexual exploitation of a child.

It went by way of Dirty Keith vs. Dirty Harry, David Bachmann’s blog about the McHenry County Sheriff’s Department.

Bachmann has come out of remission to display maps where he thinks how “places children may be being moved about for the purposes of Criminal acts.”

He adds, “Many very tiny towns, many with populations of 300 persons, near to state or N[ational] Parks and or campgrounds, all just off a major interstate arterial systems, all with a major metropolitan area not far away. These type places have little to no consistent police attention.

“The perfect profile for criminal activity as it relates to human trafficking and drug smuggling.”

Bachmann has also posted a YouTube video of Pyle people might find of interest.

Greg Pyle

While former McHenry County Sheriff’s Sergeant Greg Pyle was granted bail on his state charges, today in Rockford he was not allowed the opportunity to get out of jail prior to his trial on Federal charges of aggravated sexual abuse of a child and producing child pornography by the sexual exploitation of a child.

Meanwhile, a Chicago Tribune article on Pyle’s Tuesday arrest appeared in the Chicago Tribune, as you can see below:

Bob McCoppin’s Tribune article on Gregory Pyle’s Federal arrest on child-sex charges.

Former Democratic Party McHenry County Coroner’s candidate and, more recently, careful watcher of the McHenry County Sheriff’s Department David Bachmann is back on line.

Given the second arrest of one of Keith Nygren’s Sergeants, a man named Greg Pyle, Bachmann runs the following headline on the top of this publication:

“McHenry County Sheriffs Department is Run By Perverts and Thugs! Feds Appear Engaged!!”

Clearly, Bachmann is pleased at the Federal involvement.

And not a fan of the leadership in the Sheriff’s Department.

If you haven’t taken a look recently, he has some observations you might find of interest.

Today, Bachmann has added a map of Wisconsin marked with places from which his blog got hits. He promises more state maps in the coming days.

Dave Bachmann thinks these marked towns, sources of hits on his blog, might be significant.

A press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office:

McHENRY COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPUTY ARRESTED ON FEDERAL CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE AND EXPLOITATION CHARGES

ROCKFORD — A McHenry County Sheriff’s Deputy was arrested today and charged with aggravated sexual abuse of a child, and producing child pornography by the sexual exploitation of a child. The defendant, Gregory M. Pyle, 36, of Crest Hills, Ill., formerly of Crystal Lake, Ill., was charged in a criminal complaint.

Greg Pyle

According to court documents, an individual under investigation for child pornography identified the user names of other individuals with whom he had traded child pornography over the internet.

Pyle was allegedly identified as the person using two of those user names. The complaint alleges that Pyle transmitted sexually explicit images via the internet under those user names, including depictions of a minor child.

During a later interview, the minor stated that Pyle had sexually abused him on multiple occasions, including on a trip to Wisconsin.

The complaint alleges that in December 2008 Pyle traveled to Wisconsin with the child, then 10 years of age, with the intent to engage in a sexual act with the child, and to produce child pornography that was then transmitted via the internet.

Pyle appeared before U.S. Magistrate P. Michael Mahoney in U.S. District court and was ordered to remain in federal custody without bond pending a detention hearing at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 17, 2012.

The charges were announced by Gary S. Shapiro, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The Illinois State Police and the Illinois Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce assisted in the investigation.

The government is represented by Assistant United States Attorney Michael D. Love.

Crossing a state line to engage in a sexual act with a minor under 12 carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years and a maximum of life in prison, and sexual exploitation of a child under 12 years of age for the purpose of producing child pornography carries a mandatory minimum of 15 years and a maximum of 30 years in prison, and both counts carry a $250,000 maximum fine. If convicted, the actual sentence will be determined by a United States District Court Judge, guided by the United States Sentencing Guidelines.

The public is reminded that a complaint contains only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to indictment by a grand jury and a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

= = = = =

You can read the details of the FBI’s Criminal Complaint here.

Read all the articles about McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren’s assistant Greg Pyle here.

McHenry County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Gregory Pyle

For those into seeing the reasons that Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Wesley Tagtmeyer swore out a complaint against Gregory Pyle before Magistrate P. Michael Mahoney, you’ll find it below.  If you would like to read other McHenry County Blog articles about McHenry County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Pyle, you can find them here.

You may remember that McHenry County Sheriff’s Department deputies were found by Federal Judge Frederick Kapola to have violated the U.S. Constitutional rights of Dr. Jerome and Carla Pavlin.

The Fourth Amendment to be specific.

Here’s what that part of the U.S. Constitution says:

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

He made that finding in his decision to allow major parts of the case to go to trial.

The Sheriff’s Department’s attorneys appealed the decision, but that motion to reconsider was denied.

They entered the couple’s home on March 14, 2008, without a search warrant and hurt both husband and wife.

The Pavlins’ entryway after the illegal search. Photo credit: McHenry County Sheriff’s Department.

And who was arrested?

The Pavlins.

This is the case in which information supplied by Zane Seipler, which he heard before he was fired by Sheriff Keith Nygren, led McHenry County State’s Attorney Lou Bianchi to dismiss charges brought by the Sheriff’s Department.

This is also the case the State Police investigated, finding nothing amiss. The State Police did not interviewed the Pavlins or Seipler.  Seipler was listening over the radio to the incident.

“I can tell you my clients are happy with the settlement,” winning attorney Louis Meyer said.

“As the record stands the Deputies violated the Pavlins’ Fourth Amendment Rights to be free from unreasonable searches. There is a Federal Court Decision that states that.

“The Deputies will now all have that decision out there in the public where the Judge ruled they violated the Pavlins’ constitutional rights.

“This was a large settlement in my opinion.”

Settlements were reached with both Carla and Jerome Pavlin.

Mrs. Pavlin will get $200,000.

Mr. Pavlin $100,000.

Chicago Tribune reporter Bob McCoppin broke the story and found that local taxpayers only have to foot $100,000.

As of mid-June, 2011, the legal fees only exceeded that amount.

The rest is paid by an insurance policy.

No admission of liability on the part of any of the defendants, of course.

The defendants were

• McHENRY COUNTY
• KEITH NYGREN
• JEREMY BRUKETTA, Star 1909
• KYLE MANDERNACK, Star 1726
• TREVOR VOGEL, Star 1773
• CHRISTOPHER JONES, Star 1877
• RYAN LAMBERT, Star 1941
• GREG PYLE, Star 1672
• DAVID SHEPHERD, Star 142

You can read a summary of the case here.

The County summarizes it like this:

“Plantiff alleges false arrest, excessive force, failure to intervene, illegal search, of home civil conspiracy, malicious persecution.”

The case, as it was filed in July of 2009 is here.

You can read the settlement with Carla Pavlin below:

Dr. Jerome Pavlin’s settlement is below: