After 10 months, Monroe County superintendent case still unresolved

About 10 months have passed since an investigation began into the online activities of former Monroe County school Superintendent Anthony Pack, and there still has been no resolution.

Pack's district-issued phone, tablet and computer were sent off for analysis by the Secret Service, but the Monroe County Sheriff's Office has not seen the results.

"We've been checking with them," Sheriff John Cary Bittick said. "The last time we talked with them, they said they were about three-fourths through."

Bittick said he'd be checking in again this week.

He noted that higher-priority cases could have pushed the devices to the back burner.

The allegations against Pack are that he used his devices, paid for by the public school district, to access an online site geared toward male relationships.

Last March, in a statement through his attorney, Pack said he had not misused publicly funded electronic devices.

"I have fully complied with the board's requests that these pieces of technology be thoroughly analyzed, and look forward to a report from the Sheriff's Department that my private life is indeed my private life and not a public spectacle nor an abuse of public equipment or services."

Pack and the board parted ways, and Pack received more than $172,000 as part of the separation agreement.

Bittick also guessed that multiple presidential candidates who require Secret Service protection could have had a bearing on getting the review of the devices done.

"I'm assuming because of all the presidential details, that's what's taking the time, but I do not know that," he said.

Regardless, Bittick said the Monroe County Sheriff's Office has not given up on getting a final determination in the case.

"We're trying to touch base with them regularly so they don't forget us."

Dione Neely, a spokeswoman for the Secret Service in Atlanta, said such cases the office handles are prioritized.

"We take on a lot of additional cases in our forensics (lab)," she said.

As for the Pack case, she said, "It's being done. It's still in the works."

To contact writer Jeremy Timmerman, call 744-4331 or find him on Twitternote>

This story was originally published January 10, 2016 at 9:08 PM with the headline "After 10 months, Monroe County superintendent case still unresolved ."