It appears allegations made by a Shelby village council member concerning "nude photos" of women on a police department computer do not rise to the level of a crime.
While photos discovered on the computer included images of topless and bikini-clad women -- apparently downloaded from the Internet -- Oceana County Prosecutor Terry Shaw said they "weren't anything serious enough to warrant a full investigation."
Dr. Steve Lessens, who chairs the Shelby village police and policy committee, told a packed meeting hall Monday that he was "disgusted" to learn there were "nude photographs of women" discovered on a police department computer. That discovery prompted the committee to postpone recommending a replacement for former police chief Bob Wilson, who was placed on administrative leave on July 23 and resigned last month.
Two of the candidates vying for Wilson's position -- interim Police Chief Tim French and Shelby Officer Terry Tenbrink both work internally, which is why Lessens said a full investigation had to take place before a replacement could be recommended. The third candidate Eric Ridout, a K-9 deputy for Muskegon County, said today he is withdrawing his application.Shaw said Lessens' allegations of the photographic content on the computer was exaggerated and confirmed late Tuesday night "there would be no investigation."
Lessens could not be reached for comment this morning.
"(Lessens) called me and had indicated (French) had found pornography on the (department's) computer," Shaw said.
Shaw said he then advised French to take the computer to the state police for evaluation. Instead, state police officials checked out the computer Tuesday morning at the Shelby Police Department and "didn't see anything that would violate Michigan law," Shaw said. "It's a personnel thing."
The images found on the police computer included "seven or eight pictures of women in underwear and bikinis, and two pictures of topless women," Shaw said.
Shaw said French has declined to file any further complaints regarding the issue.
"He concurred with the state police. The state police said it wasn't a violation of the obscenity law, so there is no investigation at this time," Shaw said.
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