Lorain County Prosecutor J.D. Tomlinson faces judge in criminal case

ELYRIA, Ohio (WJW) – Lorain County Prosecutor J.D. Tomlinson made his initial court appearance Thursday, days after he was criminally charged .

The charges include tampering with evidence, intimidation, and attempted bribery.

The prosecutor’s chief of staff, James Burge, is also facing charges of tampering with evidence and intimidation. He also appeared in court Thursday.

Both were given a no-contact order for the alleged victim. Neither have hired attorneys, so their next court appearance has not been set.

The I-Team reported back in July that the sheriff’s department was investigating the prosecutor’s office over several issues including a separation agreement between the prosecutor’s office and Tomlinson’s former girlfriend, who was also an employee.

According to the separation agreement obtained by the I-Team, Tomlinson’s former girlfriend resigned in August 2023. She received $100,000 of taxpayers’ money as part of a settlement.

The settlement was made after she left the office, retained an attorney and sent a document to the prosecutor’s office. The settlement agreement states she “has informally raised concerns and claims related to her employment and the separation.”

State authorities obtained a formal employment discrimination complaint in which Tomlinson’s girlfriend alleged the prosecutor “was holding her employment over her head to engage in a sexual relationship,” according to an affidavit from Lorain County Sheriff’s Capt. Robert Vansant.

She also claimed that in August 2023 he threw her on a couch and shook her. She resigned the next day, and sent pictures of bruising on her shoulders to Burge, according to the affidavit.

In July, Vansant and an attorney interviewed the woman. She said she started working in Tomlinson’s office in January 2021 and that they started dating months later. She said Tomlinson was controlling and “obsessive.”

“Tomlinson would be physically with her in the office, preventing her from leaving, putting his hand over her mouth, and refusing to let her move to a different department so that she would not have to work directly with him,” Vansant wrote. “Burge knew of their relationship and fights in the office and would enter and try to referee.”

In a recording of an argument between Tomlinson and the woman, a sound that “appears to be a slap” can be heard, according to the affidavit. Tomlinson, in a statement he sent to the woman on Aug. 5, 2023, denied striking her. But after a second recording was released, said that they had both “laid hands on each other,” reads the affidavit.

Tomlinson’s August 2023 statement also claims the woman’s lawyer is conspiring with the Lorain County sheriff to have Tomlinson removed from office before the Nov. 5 election, in which Tomlinson is the incumbent Democrat.

“The investigation has shown those allegations are false,” Vansant wrote, adding that investigators are following “where the facts lead.”

“There has been no conspiracy to remove Tomlinson from the office,” he wrote.

While Tomlinson delayed the investigation through court appeals, he and Burge allegedly urged the woman to “adopt a false narrative to undermine the investigation,” and even asked her to sign documents that would have “drastically altered” her claim, Vansant wrote.

The woman’s attorney also handed over a statement purported to have been written by the woman, but was actually written by Burge, which told a “drastically” different story of the August 2023 incident that led to her resignation, according to the affidavit.

She told Vansant she felt “harassed and intimidated” by Tomlinson’s and Burge’s efforts to have her retract her allegations, according to the affidavit.

“Throughout the investigation, Tomlinson has continuously contacted [the woman], attempting to get her to take things back, including showing up at her residence by sneaking through the backyards so Tomlinson would not be seen or be captured on her Ring doorbell camera coming to her residence,” Vansant wrote.

The Ohio State Auditor’s Office and the FBI started investigating Tomlinson’s office and the settlement in October 2023, the month the settlement was approved.

Vansant alleges the $100,000 settlement was never filed under the county’s insurance plan, and that the payments came out of the prosecutor’s salary budget.

Commissioners approved the settlement in October 2023, but Commissioner Michelle Hung said she was never given the specific reasons for the settlement. The affidavit states she was told it was for “payment of legal fees,” and that there had been no executive session to explain the payment.

The Ohio Supreme Court assigned retired Lakewood Municipal Court Judge Patrick Carroll to hear the case. A special prosecutor has also been appointed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW.