Article attacking reporter removed

TIFFIN — Seneca County officials on Tuesday removed an article from the county's website that attacked a reporter who wrote a news story about a child custody battle involving county Commissioner Bill Frankart. Frankart There was no explanation from Frankart or county Prosecutor Derek DeVine why the article — written by the county's Media Relations Coordinator Sheri Trusty — was posted on the county website in the first place, or why it was subsequently removed. The article was posted there for about a day, from Monday until some time Tuesday. In it, Trusty claimed that Kayla Trevino, a reporter with The Advertiser-Tribune, was "on a witch hunt" for Frankart. Trusty made numerous false and unsubstantiated claims about Trevino in her article. It appears someone might have asked or ordered Trusty to write her article after the A-T published a news story, "Frankart family has dispute," on Saturday. The news story provided information from police reports and court records about Frankart's custody battle with his former daughter-in-law. Battling in court Frankart is seeking custody of his 4-year-old grandchild, according to the police reports and court records. The girl's mother was married to Frankart's son but divorced him after the son was arrested and later convicted on sexual assault charges and sent to prison. She was awarded custody of her daughter earlier this year. Frankart and his attorney both were contacted earlier last week and provided a list of questions before the A-T published the article about the custody battle. Frankart did not respond to the questions or provide any responses after the article was published. His attorney, Dean Henry, also did not answer the questions, stating that they all related "to pending civil litigation." "The questions you have posed to Mr. Frankart have nothing to do with his position as an elected official. I have advised Mr. Frankart to refrain from publicly commenting on anything related to pending litigation." The news story in the A-T described assertions in two police reports and in court records that Frankart, through his attorney, had hired a private investigator who was allegedly stalking Frankart's former daughter-in-law. The police reports, which were obtained by the A-T through a public records request, stated that Frankart also had placed a tracking device in the minor child's suitcase. Police told Frankart's former daughter-in-law to seek a protection order against the private investigator and Frankart, which she did, according to court records. The woman was granted a temporary civil protection order, and Frankart is scheduled to reply in the case at a court hearing next week. What now? After Trusty's article was posted at the county website, an attorney representing Frankart's former daughter-in-law in the custody battle said he contacted Prosecutor DeVine and asked him to determine whether county resources had been misused in developing and posting the false article. "I called Derek Devine, the Seneca County Prosecutor and made sure that he was aware of the response and that he was looking into the legality of it. He said he was," attorney John M. Kahler II, of the Tiffin firm Kahler & Kahler Law LLC, wrote to the A-T in an email. DeVine, under state law, is legal counsel for the county commissioners and might likely have a conflict or the appearance of a conflict of interest in making any determination whether county resources were misused. In similar cases, prosecutors some times seek an outside investigation from an independent law enforcement agency and appoint a special prosecutor to make any decisions. The A-T contacted DeVine on Monday and asked him if he would be making a determination or if he planned to ask for an independent investigation. As of Wednesday morning, he had not replied. Commissioner Frankart and Commissioner Tyler Shuff did not immediately respond to written inquiries. Commissioner Anthony "Tony" Paradiso was not available for comment. Trusty also did not immediately respond to a written inquiry asking why her article was removed and who requested that she write it.