Stroger campaign aide harassed woman: cops

Stroger campaign aide har
October 18, 2006
BY ANNIE SWEENEY AND STEVE PATTERSON Staff Reporters

A south suburban man who has worked for the Shaw political family, the village of Dolton and, most recently, Ald. Todd Stroger has been arrested on charges of harassing an ex-girlfriend, authorities said.
Sources identified the woman as a Cook County correctional officer.

Sean Howard, 39, allegedly refused to stop contacting the woman, a resident of south suburban Flossmoor, and was repeatedly phoning and text-messaging her, said Flossmoor Police Chief John Lancaster.


Accused of phone harassment
Howard, of Crete, was charged last week with phone harassment, a misdemeanor, and resigned Tuesday from Stroger's campaign for Cook County Board president, officials said.
Howard became associated with the Stroger camp through Bishop Larry Trotter, who served as a Stroger family spiritual adviser after Stroger's father, John Stroger, suffered a stroke.

Howard is a spokesman for Trotter. As Stroger kicked off his campaign, Howard was tapped as campaign scheduler but took on a more public role in recent weeks, making public appearances with Stroger and riding with him to many functions.

He was rumored to be a top candidate for a high-level county job should Stroger win the November election.


Resigns from campaign
But in a press release, Stroger said he "immediately accepted" Howard's resignation and said he will have no role -- not even as a volunteer -- for the campaign.
Howard could not be reached for comment.

The harassment complaint against Howard was filed with Flossmoor police Sept. 21, Lancaster said.

Flossmoor investigators were still working on the case when neighboring Olympia Fields stopped Howard for a traffic violation on Friday. Howard allegedly told police he needed to get to Flossmoor because the victim was having a "medical emergency," Lancaster said.

A Flossmoor squad car that responded to assist Olympia Fields was dispatched to the woman's house. She told police she was not having a medical emergency and that she had filed a complaint against Howard a month earlier, Lancaster said.

Charges against Howard were approved that day.