McHenry County Sheriff's patrol leader under investigation for sex with subordinate before he quit

WOODSTOCK – McHenry County Sheriff Bill Prim's former campaign manager, later named deputy chief of the patrol division despite his criminal background, was under investigation for a sexual relationship with a woman he supervised when he resigned in February, documents show.

Matt McNamara also was being investigated for harassment and workplace discrimination after an unofficial SWAT Christmas party in December, according to witness reports and other documents released by the sheriff’s office in response to a Northwest Herald Freedom of Information Act request.

A direct order from McNamara’s boss, Chief Operations Officer Ricardo Pagán, shows McNamara was placed on paid administrative leave Feb. 2 as a result of the investigation. McNamara resigned Feb. 5.

“This memo is to notify you as of this date I am tendering my resignation to accept a position in the private sector continuing to work in my previous field where the demand for my services is extremely high,” McNamara wrote.

Before he took the sheriff’s office job, McNamara’s criminal history was a campaign issue when Prim was running for sheriff in 2014.

McNamara was charged with driving under the influence in 2012 in Arizona. According to a police report from the time, McNamara blew more than twice the legal limit, and he told police that he was a Chicago police officer, even though he was not.

In police reports regarding bar fights in Iowa from 2001, witnesses said McNamara grabbed a patron by the throat, and, in a separate incident, he punched two women in the face and grabbed a third by her hair and dragged her through the parking lot.

A judge, in a 2001 bench trial, convicted McNamara of misdemeanor assault stemming from the first fight.

McNamara, who worked with Prim at the Des Plaines Police Department, had been Prim’s campaign manager early on and was an unpaid volunteer at the time of Prim’s 2014 election.

The reasons for McNamara’s departure from the Des Plaines department are unclear.

Despite criticism from Prim's opponent, Jim Harrison, and Democrats about McNamara's involvement in Prim's 2014 campaign, the sheriff's office stood by the decision to hire McNamara after Prim's election.

Prim and others pointed to McNamara’s experience running a security detail for a private company, and for Newt Gingrich and Gov. Bruce Rauner during their respective campaigns.

When reached this week, Prim again deferred to McNamara’s experience, which was documented in more than 100 pages of reports, certificates and emails provided to the Northwest Herald.

“If you saw his personnel file, you would see his was uniquely qualified for the position,” Prim said.

McNamara’s file is filled with dozens of certifications and course completion letters, as well as some praise for assisting in large-scale shooting drills.

Among the accomplishments contained in police records, McNamara earned high marks while completing the School of Police Staff and Command at Northwestern University’s Center for Public Safety in 2003.

Chief Administrative Officer Dave Devane took a similar stance.

“If you look at that file, you will see a very large number of certifications for all sorts of law enforcement specialties,” Devane said. “There is no question that he certainly had the qualifications.”

McNamara could not be reached for comment.

Allegations

The earliest documented interview in the recent investigation took place Jan. 8, when Pagan and Internal Affairs Lt. Jim Popovitz met with an unidentified employee to discuss the allegations.

The report shows the employee told Pagán and Popovitz the woman, a subordinate of McNamara’s, said she had been having a sexual relationship with McNamara.

The first sexual encounter reportedly took place Oct. 28 – about nine months into McNamara's tenure with the department – after a gas-mask training.

The training team had stopped for drinks at Buffalo Wild Wings and went separate ways, the sheriff’s office employee said.

The employee told investigators the woman was dropped off and it was assumed she “went on her way to meet with D/C McNamara.” The woman told her partner the relationship had ended, according to the report.

But during the interview in January, the unnamed employee claimed not to believe the relationship with McNamara had ended because the woman had continued to text on her private cellphone and visited McNamara’s office “nearly every day.”

SWAT Christmas party

A couple weeks later, on Jan. 21, investigators conducted interviews regarding McNamara’s actions at a Christmas party held Dec. 11 at a Woodstock tavern. According to reports, the party was not sponsored by the department, but consisted of McHenry County deputies. McNamara was the highest-ranking member in attendance, documents show.

Witness reports detail how McNamara approached at least one woman throughout the night. Because names and most pronouns are redacted, it’s unclear who McNamara was approaching and what the person’s relationship is to the sheriff’s office.

It’s also not clear whether the woman was the subordinate McNamara allegedly had a sexual relationship with.

An unidentified person who attended the party said McNamara repeatedly lifted up his shirt to expose his abdominal area while saying, “Look at this! Do you want some of this?” the report states. The same person said McNamara lifted someone from the ground and spun them. Documents from a separate interview show this made the person uncomfortable because of McNamara’s position as deputy chief and the perception others at the party would have.

In another interview, McNamara is alleged to have “gently pulled (redacted) hair back and began to smell her noting that (redacted) smelled good.”

McNamara also was reported to have asked for a woman’s phone number and called her “almost every other day” after the party.

The interviewee went on to say McNamara “has more interest in developing a romantic relationship, more than she does. DC McNamara talks a lot about himself and all the various things he has done in his life.”

Pagán informed McNamara on Feb. 2 he was being placed on leave for conduct unbecoming of a sheriff’s employee, harassment and discrimination in the workplace and violating the oath of office and code of conduct.

However, the investigation ended three days later with McNamara’s resignation.