Ugly details emerge in sex crimes probe

FREMONT — Tim Braun asked one of the women who worked in his office to watch child porn with him, according to an investigative report released Friday. "He was going through evidence on a case the office was investigating. He motioned for me to come in and see what he was doing," one witness told state investigators. "He was watching child pornography on his computer. He clicked on several different videos and seemed to be watching for my reaction. I was appalled and left the office."The Ohio Attorney General's office released records related to the investigation of Braun, including a photo of him in a hallway at the courthouse carrying files that he reported were stolen from the office. The records were released after a court hearing on Friday that ended the sex crimes investigation of Braun.Braun was convicted without any evidence being introduced in court of a third-degree minor misdemeanor negligent assault charge. He was fined $500, put on probation for one year and will resign from office no later than June 30, 2020, under the terms of his plea agreement.A visiting judge, who did not hear any testimony in the case, said Braun's loss of stature in the community and having to be on probation was punishment enough for him. One of the other records released by Attorney General Dave Yost on Friday is the incident report, a record that details the initial allegations he was asked to investigate. "It was explained to the agents that Prosecutor Braun allegedly slipped his hand under the bra of a female employee, touching her breast. Prosecutor Braun explained to the employee he thought her rib was out of place and he would adjust it for her," the incident report dated May 8, 2019, states. The report also details allegations about the missing personnel files from the prosecutor's office. "Agents were also told that personnel files from the prosecutor's office were missing and that Prosecutor Braun had begun an investigation. Prosecutor Braun issued a subpoena for the personal cell phone records of certain female employees. Some of the women believe Prosecutor Braun is abusing his power and trying to 'set them up' for a crime they did not commit. Prosecutor Braun did not file a police report of the missing files with the Sandusky County Sheriff's Office. The files came up missing after an employee resigned and turned in their badge, which gives access to the office."State law dictates that incident reports are public record when filed. Incident reports are routinely released by law enforcement agencies upon request. The attorney general's office ignored the requirement for seven months, however, and routinely violates the spirit and intent of the state's public records law. Four BCI agents were assigned to the investigation: Tiffany Najmulski, Tessa Penwell, Matt Collins and Jason Snyder. BCI agent Jeff Cook supervised it. The photo of Braun among what was released Friday is captioned, 'Picture of Braun with files in courthouse.' The prosecutor in court said the allegation that Braun falsified a theft complaint about the files was "smoke and mirrors," but she declined after the hearing to explain what that meant.Attorney General Dave Yost, who was a no-show at the hearing, also offered no explanation why criminal charges were not pursued. None of the state agents assigned to the investigation attended Friday's hearing. There was no mention at Friday's hearing about Braun allegedly inviting a subordinate to view child porn with him.Braun used the alleged theft of the missing files to obtain search warrants for private phone records of the women in his office he was sexually assaulting and harassing. He allegedly intended to frame one of the women to discredit her after she filed complaints against him.Judge John Dewey approved the request for search warrants. The personnel files were later mysteriously discovered inside a file cabinet inside Braun's office at the courthouse*The Register continues to review the massive number of documents released Friday by the attorney general. Get more of the story later this week in only in the Register. For past news coverage go to http://sanduskyregister.com/tags/tim-braunThis is a photo of Sandusky County Prosecutor Tim Braun provided to the Register by the Bureau of Criminal Investigation o Dec. 6, 2019. The caption with it is "Braun with files at courthouse."