Illinois Valley Times

The LaSalle County State’s Attorney, who is pursuing a perjury charge against a Peru attorney, also should be investigated for the same charge, a member of a local citizens government oversight group said.

"We find it ironic that he has made these allegations about perjury when all the documentation we have point to him having committed perjury," Kirk Allen, a writer for Edgar County Watchdogs, said during an Illinois Valley Times interview.

Allen wrote an article, published on the watchdog group's website today with details about documents the group has uncovered on LaSalle County State’s Attorney Brian Towne.

"The evidence and documents appear to point to a very problematic situation for Towne," the article said. "A situation where he has signed and filed sworn court pleadings stating one thing, while the evidence disproves his pleadings and his statements to the courts. The appearance of perjury is so clear, we must ask, who will charge Towne? How ironic is that?"

Towne could not be reached for comment.

The article goes on to detail information from documents obtained by Edgar County Watchdogs, particularly about forfeited funds through the State's Attorney Felony Enforcement (SAFE) and the documents about the seizure of funds and property from John Huls in 2011.

"Towne’s false statements and pleadings involve his illegal police force, SAFE and the forfeitures resulting from SAFE," the article said.

Many of the documents that Allen said raise questions about whether Towne has committed perjury were part of a flood of documentation that he said began to turn up when Edgar County Watchdogs broke the story in January about Illinois Auditor General Frank Mautino's handling of campaign contributions. "A lot of documents about Towne became to come in about that time, and there's been more since," Allen said.

Earlier this year, Towne faced a formal complaint, alleging violations of the Campaign Disclosure Act, filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections by Edgar County Watchdogs co-founder and Paris resident John Kraft. The complaint, filed in July, also alleged the Democrat's political committee improperly reported campaign donations. Earlier this month, Board of Elections hearing officers recommended no action be taken against Towne on campaign finance abuse allegations brought by Peru attorney Julie Ajster and Kraft.

Also in July, Edgar County Watchdogs posted a letter from Ajster claiming that SAFE effectively is Towne's own police force. Ajster faces a felony perjury charge in La Salle County Circuit Court, filed by Towne, over allegations she made false statements while she represented Danny French, a Dalzell resident, over his felony charges that he threatened individuals.

Edgar County Watchdogs continues to cover the scandal around Mautino, who has ignored calls that he resign, but the documents about Towne received some attention as well, Allen said. Suggestions about Towne and perjury have been whispered before, Allen said. "Suggestions about perjury have been talked about in local forums, on Facebook and other places," Allen said.

It was the preponderance of documents gathered by Edgar County Watchdogs that led to today's article, Allen said. "This raises a lot of questions about Mr. Towne that should be looked into. He's got a lot of problems."