By RICHARD ABSHIRE - The Dallas Morning News - Tuesday, February 12, 2008
rabshire@dallasnews.com
A candidate for sheriff in Kaufman County has been indicted on three charges of official oppression while serving as chief of police in Pelican Bay.
One indictment charges Eddie Frankum with unlawful "mistreatment, arrest or detention." The other two allege sexual harassment. Each charge is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by one year in jail and/or a $4,000 fine.
Mr. Frankum called it "dirty tricks" in January when a warrant was issued for his arrest in a separate case based on allegations that he had stolen police equipment from his former department.
Mr. Frankum, who was expected to turn himself in on Monday, did not return calls for comment.
David Montague, spokesman for the Tarrant County district attorney's office, confirmed Monday that a grand jury on Feb. 7 indicted Mr. Frankum on three counts involving two complainants, whom Mr. Montague declined to identify.
Mr. Montague said he did not know when the original complaints that led to the indictments were made or whether they originated with an agency other than the district attorney's office.
All the incidents allegedly happened between February and August 2006 while Mr. Frankum was employed by the Police Department in Pelican Bay, a town of about 1,600 northwest of Fort Worth in Tarrant County.
"The investigation was done by the district attorney's office," said Gilbert Towns Jr., who succeeded Mr. Frankum as chief of the Pelican Bay Police Department.
Chief Towns said the investigation was already under way before he took over as chief in July 2007.
Mr. Frankum is challenging incumbent Sheriff David Byrnes in the March 4 Kaufman County Republican primary
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