A former Cook County official keeps getting into trouble over the ladies.
Martin P. Walsh, former patronage chief for then Cook County Sheriff Michael Sheahan was busted April 27 by Illinois State Police investigators at the Bolingbrook Holiday Inn for trying to hook up with a prostitute, reports the Chicago Tribune.
It’s not the first time the 47-year-old Palos Heights resident finds himself in hot water over a woman. In 1997 Walsh was smack-dab-in the middle of what turned out to be the county’s costliest sexual harassment cases.
Back then Walsh was dating co-worker Ann Conway. During their four year relationship Walsh lavished her with gifts, took her to political events and even had their love immortalized by tattooing her name on his chest. He also made the ultimate of romantic gestures - he bought her a new pair of breasts.
When the relationship soured, Walsh filed a lawsuit against Conway for the $4,675 dollars he says she still owed him for the breast implants.
Conway countered by later filing her own lawsuit charging sexual harassment. She accused Walsh of being abusive and keeping her in the relationship by threatening to not pay her. She claimed when she finally did break it off, she was fired from her clerical job.
The case dragged on for about two years and in 1999, fed up county commissioners voted to settle the case for $626,000. Walsh’s legal ordeal also led the sheriff to create a new “zero-tolerance” sexual harassment policy that same year.
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"We seem to be in the business of creating plots for made-for-TV movies lately," then-Commissioner Mike Quigley said at the time.
Walsh’s current drama won’t drag on for years – his prostitution trial starts August 24. He faces misdemeanor solicitation charges to which he as pleaded not guilty.
