SANDPOINT — A District 2 Bonner County commissioner candidate is disputing sexual abuse allegations dating back approximately two years after a public comment during a county business meeting disclosed the allegations.  

The allegations did not result in charges. Instead, in a Sept. 14 letter to the county prosecutor's office, the Idaho Attorney General's Office said there is insufficient evidence to move forward. 

In a statement posted to his Facebook campaign page on Thursday, Oct. 8, Jeff Roberts, 49, denied the allegations, several days after the accusations were brought forth by community members Dan and Diane Welle, who obtained an incident report on the matter via a public records request.   

"The accusations behind this closed investigation are unequivocally false, and I fully deny these allegations. When made aware of the investigation, I immediately submitted to, and passed, a polygraph test administered by a licensed professional. This test was provided to the Sheriff’s Office shortly thereafter," Roberts said in the post. 

A video of the meeting in which the allegations were made was taken down by the county. It is unclear what, if any, connection there is to the comments and the video's removal.

Bonner County Sheriff Darryl Wheeler said his office "did not receive a copy of the results of an alleged polygraph" from Roberts. Wheeler said the results, if obtained by his office, would have been included in the investigative report. Roberts opted to not respond to inquiries regarding the polygraph outside of his Facebook post.  

Roberts noted that the Attorney General’s office ruled against pressing charges and that the state of Idaho "formally considers the matter closed."  

Wheeler said that toward the end of the investigation, which can take several weeks, investigators determined the best path forward would be to involve a grand jury, which is selected to examine the validity of allegations. Before the grand jury process, Prosecutor Louis Marshall asked the Idaho Attorney General's Office to take over the case. 

Marshall said he made the decision to eliminate any perception of political motives and acted under the perception of conflict of interest.  

"The prosecutor made the decision to request the State Attorney General's Office take over the case. During that discussion, there was still the expectation that the AG's Office would take over and make the presentation to the grand jury. Obviously, that did not happen," Wheeler said. "The AG's decision not to proceed with prosecution in this case is a miscarriage of justice. Every victim should get their day in court."   

The Idaho Attorney General's office did not reply to inquiries from the Daily Bee about the investigation.  

Roberts said the allegations will not interfere with his future work or with "earning trust from the people he hopes to represent."  

At the time of publishing, Roberts' name remains on the Nov. 3 general election ballot for the District 2 county commissioner seat after defeating incumbent Asia Williams in the May primary election. The Bonner County Republican Central Committee Chair Roger Rudd said the party's endorsement of Robert remains, and a meeting has not been called to challenge the endorsement.  

Law enforcement became aware of the allegations June 1 by way of the victim, who requested to speak to a BSCO deputy about the alleged abuse. The victim was interviewed by the sheriff's office and LillyBrooke Family Justice Center. Offense codes for forcible fondling and attempted forcible rape were attached at the top of the incident report documents.  

For privacy, the Daily Bee opted not to share intimate details disclosed in the incident report.

As part of the investigation, law enforcement sought to interview Roberts, prompting a letter from an attorney representing Roberts. The letter invoked Roberts' Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment rights, and directed law enforcement to contact only his attorney, Michael G. Palmer of Palmer, George PLLC.