Charges dropped against Duval County School Police lieutenant

Case called into question because of prosecutor assigned to it

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Felony charges have been dropped against a Duval County School Police Department lieutenant accused of molesting a young child.

Last week, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced she had filed a motion to dismiss charges against Sean MacMaster and his stepfather, Larry Orr, following an internal investigation into all cases handled by former Assistant Attorney General Brian Kolodziej, the lead prosecutor on their case.

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“I am compelled to dismiss the charges in this case following the information we received regarding Mr. Kolodziej’s prosecutorial conduct, which are tantamount to serious violations of our prosecutorial standards,” Nessel said in a prepared statement.

MacMaster, 45, was arrested in Jacksonville in May on an out-of-state warrant and transferred to Michigan the next month, where he was charged with two counts of criminal sexual conduct with a child. Orr, a registered sex offender, was taken into custody on the same charges.

In September, Kolodziej resigned rather than be fired after authorities learned he had a relationship with the victim of a separate sexual assault case he handled. Afterward, Nessel ordered an internal investigation of all Kolodziej’s cases, including that of MacMaster and Orr.

As a result, Nessel filed a motion last week to dismiss the men’s charges without prejudice, meaning they could still face prosecution if the case is refiled. The attorney general’s office did not go into detail about the circumstances that led to the dismissal.

But, according to the Detroit Free Press, the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office notified Nessel’s office in September that the allegations were investigated in 2015 by several agencies, including the FBI, but the case was not prosecuted because of a lack of evidence and probable cause.

“My client is very happy with the outcome and that’s all we’re prepared to say about it,” MacMaster’s attorney, Alona Sharon, told the Free Press.

Correction:

A previous version of this story incorrectly interpreted the meaning of a dismissal without prejudice.