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St. Louis Co. Executive makes 1st comment after employee resigned amid sex video investigation

"The video that was made was wrong and the video was distributed and that was wrong," Sam Page said in his first public comment since Harris resigned last week.

ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — For the first time on Wednesday morning, St. Louis County Executive Sam Page spoke out about a leaked sex video involving his former chief of staff.

Last Thursday, news broke about a video showing Calvin Harris engaging in a sex act inside his government office with an unknown woman.

RELATED: Top aide to Sam Page quits after video of sex act surfaces

Almost a week later, Page addressed media members in his weekly news briefing saying, "The video that was made was wrong and the video was distributed and that was wrong."

Page shared how he learned what happened.

"The highway patrol came to the 9th floor to see Calvin Harris and I asked what was up. He said there was a video and he would be resigning," Page said.

Thirty minutes later, a resignation letter was sent out. 

Background

Last Thursday, former Chief of Staff Calvin Harris resigned and a letter was sent around 1:45 PM.

It read: "I am resigning from my post in the Page administration effective immediately. I want to thank my beloved colleagues for their dedication and tireless effort to St. Louis County, as well as Dr. Page for entrusting me with this responsibility. Public service is an honorable profession, but it is impossible to pour from an empty cup. Given the recent death of a close relative and upcoming family relocation, it is in the best interest of the County for me to step down from my duties and focus on my family and mental health." 

Then, a few hours later, St. Louis County Councilman Mark Harder sent a press release saying a police investigation was underway after a video was sent to him anonymously. 

“I was provided information from a source who sent me an email containing a disturbing video of a sexual nature. It would appear the video was recorded by the male participant in a sexual act with an unknown female. The video was taken in what looks to be a St. Louis County government office in Clayton on the 9th floor of the Administration building at 41 So. Central Avenue. The male subject was wearing a St. Louis County government ID lanyard, which clearly identifies him. It is unknown to me how or why the male participant distributed this video. Upon advice, believing the female may be the victim of a crime, I met with law enforcement on Thursday June 23rd and turned over everything I had to them for investigation. The case is now with the Missouri Highway Patrol to investigate. I have received no word on the status of that investigation at this time. My office is releasing this information to the public for the purposes of transparency. Due to the on-going status and sensitive nature of the investigation, I will not be able to comment further at this time and will refer all who have questions to the Missouri Highway Patrol 636-300-2800. I also recommend the County Executive’s Office cooperate fully.”

The investigation

Harder said the video was first sent to Shamed Dogan, a Republican state representative and candidate for St. Louis County Executive. 

The video was emailed from an email address titled stlconcernedcitizen@proton.me with the subject line of “Tax Dollars GROSSLY Misused at County Executive Office.”

The email came from Proton, which provides easy-to-use encrypted email.

The email read, "To Whom It May Concern: A video from the county office has captured that Sam Page doesn’t have control over his staff. While he is a practicing physician, his chief of staff is practicing inappropriate behavior in the office while being in charge. New leadership is needed."

Once Dogan got that email, he shared it with Harder. 

"He shared it to Harder as his council rep and the chair of Ethics Committee," Councilman Tim Fitch said. 

Fitch said Harder never shared the video with anyone except to police and they believe Dogan only shared it with Harder. 

After a brief investigation, Clayton Police handed the information to Missouri Highway Patrol to take over.

In its most recent statement, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said there are no updates at this time and they are unable to comment on details of the investigation to protect the integrity of the investigation. 

The possible crime

In Missouri, it is illegal to take or distribute photographs or videos of someone involved in a sex act without their consent.

The crime is a class-D felony and is punishable by up to seven years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

The unknown woman in the video is represented by attorney Grant Boyd, who specializes in sexual assault and abuse cases. 

He said his client did not know she was being recorded, did not consent to the recording and did not consent to the distribution of the video. 

As for Harris' attorney, Travis Noble said there was consent and no crime was committed. 

He said the victim knew she was being recorded, his client didn’t disseminate the video and doesn’t know how it got into the hands of the Republican lawmaker.

"We're hoping state police are able to find out how someone may have gotten into his phone in order to obtain that," Noble said. "He certainly would not have shared that with anyone."

Noble said the incident did not take place on the county dime. He said his client is cooperating fully with investigators, giving them the personal cellphone he used to make the recording.

He also added that his client’s resignation letter reflected his real reason for stepping down.

5 On Your Side's Political Analyst Anita Manion said there can be gray areas when it comes to a code of conduct. 

 "When we talk about sexual interaction between two consenting adults... are there either rules or laws in the book? In this case, so far, it doesn’t seem the sex act itself was where the law was broken, but the distribution could be," Manion says.

Reaction

Fitch doesn't buy the excuse from Harris' attorney and said, "It happened in the County Executive suite, who cares if it was five after 5, when you’re a salaried employee, everything is on the county’s dime, you’re always on the clock."

Councilwoman Lisa Clancy also shared her thoughts on Twitter:

Harder said it wasn't passed around like popcorn and it was handled with the utmost care.

What's next

The investigation is still ongoing, however, Fitch is already putting forth a piece of legislation for the next council meeting. 

"When you look through county policies, there’s nothing that says specifically that you can’t be involved in a sex act on county property," Fitch said.

It would require any elected or appointed county official from engaging in act sexual acts in county buildings, cars, and county-owned property.

Most county ordinances are punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. 

If it passes through, it could go into law in about six weeks.

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