On April 1, the Minnesota Supreme Court suspended former Cook County prosecutor Tim Scannell’s license to practice law in the state.
On July 25, 2014 Scannell was convicted of two counts of fourth degree criminal sexual conduct for his inappropriate relationship with a 17-year-old girl in 2012. The attorney general appointed a special prosecutor, Thomas Heffelfinger, to pursue the case against Scannell on behalf of Cook County, which was charged with picking up Heffelfinger’s $163,000 bill for work and expenses.
The court case was held in St. Louis County where the jury found that Scannell abused a position of authority over the girl when he kissed and touched her on two occasions because he had previously been her coach and a mentor.
Scannell was sentenced to 30 days confinement, which he served at Mille Lacs County Jail, and ordered to perform 300 hours of public service as part of his sentence. On December 17, 2014 the court ruled that Scannell must make restitution of $13,625.57 to the victim.
In addition to jail time and probation, Scannell must successfully complete sex offender treatment as recommended by an August 22, 2014 psychosexual evaluation; must provide a DNA sample and must continue to have no contact with the victim or her family. He may not have unsupervised contact with children in certain circumstances and must have no unsupervised contact with females under the age of 18. Scannell must register as a predatory offender and abide by registration guidelines for a 10-year period.
The Minnesota Supreme Court ordered that Scannell would not be able to file for reinstatement of his license for at least three years. Scannell also must pay $900 in costs.
The director of the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility brought the charges against Scannell.
A bill, HF37, authored by Minnesota State Legislator David Dill (DFL) District 3A, is seeking to have the state pick up the $163,000 expense incurred by the county to pay for Heffelfinger’s prosecutorial fees and expenses. Minnesota Senator Tom Bakk (DFL) District 3A has also authored a similar bill in the senate.
Joseph Tamburino, the attorney who represented Scannell, did not respond to calls about the Minnesota Supreme Court’s ruling against his client.
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