Sheriff Jeff Boyd of Rock Island Illinois Guilty of Cyberstalking
48 year old Rock Island County Sheriff, Jeffrey Boyd, was up for re-election. He has now withdrawn from the race.
On September 11, 2014, Boyd pled guilty to one count of attempted official misconduct based on attempted cyberstalking. As part of his guilty plea, he resigned and forfeited the pension he earned during his term as Rock Island County Sheriff.
The case was referred from the Illinois State Police to the Public Integrity Bureau for the Illinois Attorney General’s office. It was prosecuted by the Public Integrity Bureau Chief David Navarro and Bill Elward of the Trial Assistance Bureau.
Former Rock Island County Sheriff Jeffrey Boyd gets a hug from his wife Ann Boyd after he resigned from office Thursday Sept. 11, 2014
Boyd was accused of using his position as sheriff to intimidate and threaten a woman who he met at a Rock Island gym. Boyd text messaged the woman repeatedly. She asked him to stop and leave her alone, but Boyd then used his position in public office and as a law enforcement officer to intimidate and harass the victim. In June, Boyd made a threat against the victim in an anonymous text message.
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan stated:
“Mr. Boyd was elected by the people of Rock Island County to serve as its top law enforcement officer, but unfortunately he attempted to use his position to intimidate and stalk his victim. My office sought his resignation and criminal conviction to ensure he can no longer abuse the power that the people of Rock Island County entrusted in him.”
In Illinois, a first offense for harassment that includes cyberstalking, carries a sentence of up to 6 months, but sentences can also be imposed for probation and conditional discharge. The Attorney General’s press release does not state whether Boyd received jail time in his sentencing and it appears that his resignation and forfeiting of his pension were established as penalties.
Posted on 09/17/2014, in Cops Gone Wild, Cyber Abuse and tagged cyberstalking, Jeffrey Boyd, Lisa Madigan, resignation, Rock Island, sheriff. Bookmark the permalink. 19 Comments.
We Hold These Truths To Be Self-Evident 
Surprised he felt he had to resign over it. I thought most police departments had an unofficial policy of cyberstalking local residents! Lmao
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LOL@Caleb. I think the only reason Jeff resigned was part of his plea deal to avoid trial and jail. With the sentencing being 6 months, in Illinois public defenders are not provided and the person is locked up in the County jail rather than a State prison.
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Oh wow. That’s a shock. A cop being sent to jail with the people he and his buddies jail on the regular. He couldn’t allow that to happen now could he? Lol
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Hey Caleb.
I’m working on reporting another case decided in Illinois. It’s better than the Boyd case. 🙂
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Police organizations are certified legal gangs to kill,abuse and harras citizens.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/17/bryce-masters-taser_n_5835810.html
The teen parent is a police officer on another state.
The governor of that state is part of the problem, supporting police killing
and abuse,to this day the governor refuse to use his power to change
police behavior,this is the same man who used state police to supress peacefull marches.
The DOJ is became a joke,police officers continuing killing and abusing
citizens around the nation 24/7.
The Huff Post article is very respecful about Bryce Masters,an ample contrast
comparing to Trayvon Martin.
The article never question a possible thug behavior ,gangs affiliation,drug user like
Huff Post did it with Trayvon Marin ,I wonder why?
As always the (pig) representing the police stated that the teen failed to comply
with the police command and tried to resist arrest,but witnesses are disputing
the police version, everyone remember is them vs US.
Police brutality is against any civilian ,no matter skin color,political background
or economical status,whoever thinks the contrary is living on La La Land.
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Hey Joseph!
Think of this analogy; parents are authoritative figures over their children. If children failed to comply with parents’ demands and parents responded by inflicting pain on the children, they would be charged with child abuse.
The infliction of physical harm on a person is abusive and criminal. Average citizens who do that to others are charged with assault.
What did cops do before tasers and pepper spray when people questioned them? They called for backup. They communicated telling the person the consequences for failure to comply.
Indeed. There is always a test group or test cases that set precedence. For decades, police used excessive force on minorities and got away with it. That set precedence. It reminds me of the saying that came after WWII about the Nazis coming for varying people and the person stayed silent because they were not in that classification. When the Nazis came for him, there was no one left to speak up for him.
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Hello Xena,I know we should be upset,madly upset about the
police brutality, but as you stated “For decades, police used excessive
force on minorities and got away with it”
Now is touching everyone else and we are seeing a force against
police brutality by citizens everwhere,rightly so!
Police brutality escalation surged when the failed war against drug started and the Obama presidency.
It’s odd that police always claims citizens “uprising” while witnesses and evidence are showing the contrary.
Another point is that state agencies for too long had been excused police killing as “justified” with the federal government consent.
We can write thousands of examples were the state and federal
laws has been violated to justify ‘legally’ killing the American citizens in the name of peace and order.
Xena,you are doing a wonderful job exposing injustice in America.
Xena,remember police justifying abuses by their own : “Stop resisting” but the citizen is contortioning to a terrible beating by fellow officers 😦
Another famous one, the presumed suspect “tried to reach the officer gun”
Tubby and police officers that violate people rights should be charged,convicted and send to prison,but until it happens, the abuses will continue.
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That is one reason why, in the most recent video that I did, I turned off the audio in the clips. As I’ve said many times — people are not robots. We don’t always understand what is said when there’s shouting, and some cannot physically move in the blink of an eye to “get on the ground.” People are not being treated as individuals and all are suspected of breaking some law. That’s humiliating and a violation of civil and human rights.
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Sounds like his resignation is in lieu of jail time.
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Mindmyme,
Yes, it does. And, he had to give up his pension too.
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it’s a start, a small start but a start nonetheless.
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There’s another one that I will be reporting on soon. I just wish that the county I live in was directed at advocating for victims of law enforcement as other counties in this state.
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I wish there were no victims of law enforcement.
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I wish that people would stop hurting each other, period.
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Just when you think you have heard it all. I am glad he has been found out. Humans can and do bring each other such pain. If we would spend the same energy creating peace the world would thrive. Hugs, Barbara
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I so agree with you IdealisticRebel!!!
People use up way too much energy to cause harm when it takes less to create peace, love and harmony.
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It is so true and very ignored. Hugs, Barbara
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Xena, Did Jeff Boyd actually give up his pension? From what I have read he only gave up the pension he earned as Sheriff.. However did he give up the pension for the 20+ years he worked as a member of the sheriffs department prior to becoming sheriff? I suspect he will keep that part of his pension. This is probably another case where the member of the law enforcement community is punished but not punished as badly as they would like you to think…
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Hey Mothman,
That’s an excellent question. Now that you brought it up, I suspect it was only his pension during the time he served as the county’s sheriff.
Right. Part of this case is because of legislation for sentencing under the “Harassing and Obscene Communications” statute. The Illinois Attorney General’s office has taken an interest in such cases, and I applaud them for that, but we need stronger sentencing.
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