Descent into the maelstrom

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04/21/2007

Mistrust, fear, hostility rule prosecutor's office in Pepmeyer's first days

GALESBURG - Three affidavits filed with the Chicago District Office of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission paint a sordid picture of John Pepmeyer's first 63 days as Knox County state's attorney.

A pair of the affidavits provide explicit descriptions of Pepmeyer's alleged sexual harassment against two of the women who worked in the state's attorney's office.

The other affidavit, filed by Petitioner No. 2, offered a description of the office's quick descent into a chaos fueled by mistrust, hostility and fear.

Petitioner No. 2 said she started feeling "uneasy" Jan. 12, Pepmeyer's first day in office.

She said the new state's attorney asked for the file on Larry Traman, a client Pepmeyer recently represented as a defense attorney. Petitioner No. 2 said Pepmeyer asked her to amend information on the case in order to reduce the charges against Traman to a misdemeanor charge of battery.

Petitioner No. 2 said if Traman was found guilty of battery he wouldn't have to register as a sex offender.

In a detailed news release, Pepmeyer refuted Petitioner No. 2's allegations.

"I had two days between my appointment and swearing-in and there were several cases that required resolution," Pepmeyer said in the release. On all of those cases and the one mentioned in the complaint, I have made motions for the state appellate prosecutor to be appointed as special prosecutor. The court granted my motions."

Traman was arrested Oct. 7, 2005, at 654 U.S. 150 East and charged with criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual assault.

His case has not been resolved.

Petitioner No. 2 said Pepmeyer repeatedly told her other workers in the office wanted him to fire her and were stabbing her in the back. She also claimed Pepmeyer told her the rest of the state's attorney's office was turning against him because he refused to fire her.

By March 16, the eve of The Peoria Journal Star's first story on pending sexual harassment grievances to be filed against Pepmeyer by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 union, Petitioner No. 2 said Pepmeyer started yelling and demanding to know if Assistant State's Attorney Mike Kraycinovich went to lunch with two of the administrative assistants.

Petitioner No. 2 said Pepmeyer later called in a "computer tech guy" on March 16 because he thought "someone was messing with his computer."

After the weekend passed, the state's attorney's office resembled a ghost town on Monday, March 19.

Two of the five administrative assistants took week-long absences for health reasons. Assistant state's attorneys Dean Stone, Tracey Jones and Kraycinovich all informed the office they would not be in the office during the week, citing health and family issues.

Petitioner No. 2 said in the affidavit that by Tuesday, March 20, "The tension in the office was so thick you could cut it with a knife and I felt like they (Pepmeyer and his brother, Tom) were watching my every move and listening to every word that came out of my mouth."

Pepmeyer never denied the atmosphere in the state's attorney's office disintegrated - but in a recent news release, he claimed the cause of the chaos was politically motivated after "... I commenced my attempts to shake-up and change certain routines in the office. ..."

By Wednesday, March 21, Pepmeyer brought in his stepdaughter Lauren Pepmeyer and former Cherry Street employee Louis Glossip to work in the office. The decision alienated the employees and Petitioner No. 2 said the presence of Pepmeyer's temporary help increased the tension in the office.

Pepmeyer said he felt the need to bring in temporary help because he was so short-staffed. And he felt he needed people he could trust.

Family members played a role - Tom Pepmeyer, John's brother; Laura Pepmeyer, John's wife; and Lauren Pepmeyer, his stepdaughter.

Glossip and Nicki Gulick, former Pepmeyer employees, also worked in the office on a part-time temporary basis.

Petitioner No. 2 said Pepmeyer started trying to overtly intimidate her on Thursday, March 22, when he repeatedly admonished her by saying, "Don't betray me."

According to Petitioner No. 2's affidavit, work slowed "to a crawl" as the administrative assistants attempted to bring the temporary employees up to speed and because all signed approvals had to go through Pepmeyer or Assistant State's Attorney John Schlake.

Pepmeyer has consistently claimed the felony files in the office were in disarray. And he has repeatedly said he incurred the wrath of the assistant state's attorneys and the office's administrative staff after he started investigating two-year-old rumors of a sexual relationship between a then-correctional officer and a federal prisoner housed in the Knox County Jail.

That former correctional officer rejoined the state's attorney's office in 2005, currently works there and was one of the two women who filed an affidavit with the EEOC.