Bonner County commissioner candidate Jeff Roberts confirmed Tuesday that a polygraph examination he claimed to have completed was never delivered to the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office due to an email address error made by his attorney.
Roberts had publicly stated he took and passed the test in response to sexual abuse allegations dating back two years. Despite those claims, Sheriff Daryl Wheeler said his office never received the document from Roberts.
The Idaho Attorney General’s Office issued a letter on Sept. 14 to the county prosecutor’s office stating there was insufficient evidence to pursue charges. No criminal action resulted from the investigation.
On Oct. 8, Roberts posted online denying the allegations and asserting he passed a polygraph administered by a licensed professional. Five days later, he clarified that his attorney mistyped Deputy Clevy Santos’ email address when sending the results.
The attorney entered the domain as “bonnerid.gov” instead of the correct “bonnercoid.gov.” The email containing the polygraph was copied to the prosecutor’s office using the correct address. Prosecutor Louis Marshall confirmed his office received the message on July 6 through its general filing inbox.
Marshall said he was unaware of the documents until Tuesday evening and forwarded them to the Sheriff’s Office for review. He noted that investigative information is typically provided to prosecutors by local law enforcement agencies, not the other way around.
“Prosecutors do not directly control local agencies; instead, they must request reports, media, and other investigative materials from applicable agencies such as the Idaho State Police or local law enforcement,” Marshall said.
The Idaho State Bar echoed this standard practice. Roberts maintained his innocence throughout the process.
“The accusations behind this closed investigation are unequivocally false, and I fully deny these allegations,” Roberts said.
The Sheriff’s Office did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday regarding the receipt of the polygraph results or any further review of the case.