Jeff Sprinkle, photo submitted
CRAWFORD CO., Ill. - This sick and twisted society's latest "thing" has gotten a Crawford County deputy on the unemployment line...but only after his boss the sheriff was basically forced to do something about it.
Reports from officials indicate that the unfortunately-named Jeff Sprinkle is no longer with the Crawford County Sheriff's Department, having been asked last week by Sheriff Bill Rutan to resign.
Rutan, we're being told, should already have fired Sprinkle, however.
Sprinkle has been with the department for almost a year, having come to the area from Springfield.
However, last week (first week of October), it was reported that there was a video of Sprinkle masturbating that was circulating on social networking.
Prior to this, it's being reported, Sprinkle is alleged to have sent what is commonly known by the term that's as vulgar as the practice - "dick pics" - to other women in the area, ostensibly with whom he'd had interaction as a cop. One of these is reported to have been sent to the wife of a local firefighter, who had enough and notified someone in a position of authority. To whom he reported it, and what the response was, remains unknown at this point, but it resulted in Crawford's sheriff, Bill Rutan (who hired Sprinkle), reportedly asking Sprinkle to resign (which he did) as opposed to terminating him.
Where Sprinkle is right now is unclear...however, no charges have been filed (because apparently sending dick pics and nasty vids isn't against the law if the sender is the star; it's only illegal if a recipient of the pics uses them in a way that runs contrary to Illinois law, which literally involves blackmail, not anything resembling trafficking of porn, God forbid) and that's apparently not something that Matt "Let's Make a Deal" Hartrich would be interested in pursuing, anyway.
Rutan, the Republican incumbent in this year's election, will be facing Democrat challenger Floyd Brinkman in the upcoming election.