Suspended Shelby County sheriff seeks dismissal of sexual battery case

WAPAKONETA — Claiming the case stems from protected statements, suspended Shelby County Sheriff Dean Kimpel is asking a judge to dismiss a pending sexual battery case against him. At the least, Kimpel wants the statements suppressed, according to court documents.

In court papers filed Friday in Auglaize County Common Pleas Court, Kimpel's attorney, Michael Rumer, argues the basis for the indictment stems from an independent internal affairs investigation into the allegation Kimpel sexually assaulted a former Shelby County deputy, Jodi Van Fossen, at her Wapakoneta-area home in July 2010.

Rumer argues statements made during the internal affairs investigation were given after Kimpel and others were given so-called “Garrity warnings.” The Garrity warning advised Kimpel he could lose his job if he doesn't answer questions but also said no answers would be used in a subsequent criminal prosecution.

“It is clear that the language of Garrity itself makes said protections available to all public employees, including those who are elected officials such that they could be ‘removed from office,'” Rumer wrote. “It is equally clear that removal from office does not have to be completed and that the mere threat of said action suffices for Garrity warnings to apply and make any subsequent statement the result of coercion.”

Rumer argues that discovery provided to the defense provides no independent evidence that Kimpel committed sexual battery. Rumer also argues that the internal affairs investigator's interview of Kimpel even after the Garrity warning is the basis of the one count indictment.

“Further, although Kimpel did testify at the grand jury, the prosecutor questioning him was aware of Kimpel's Garrity statement and used it as the basis of his questioning,” Rumer wrote.

A hearing on the motion to dismiss and suppress will be heard April 2, according to court records. A trial is set to begin May 7.

Kimpel also faces five counts of unauthorized use of the Ohio Law Enforcement Gateway in Shelby County. That matter is set to go to trial April 3.