OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — 3 News Now is continuing to follow a public corruption investigation that led to the arrests of city council member Vinny Palermo, former police captain Richard Gonzalez, former police detective Johnny Palermo and fundraiser Jack Olson.
Reporter Molly Hudson took a deeper look into the alleged sexual assault in the federal indictments involving Olson.
The federal indictment outlines that Olson allegedly met a woman at the Lemon Drop Bar. It further states that Olson along with others took her to Seymour Smith Park where the sexual assault allegedly occurred.
But the case is now closed and Kleine said he read the indictment himself.
"It concerned me because it cause, it made it sound like there may have been something that was done to cover that up or maybe some activities that were done by somebody else that was indicted to try and help him," he said.
Kleine spoke with the Omaha Police Department’s Sexual Assault Unit and was told by police that there was a report made and that it was investigated.
"After they investigated they contacted us, just to let us know 'Hey we've got this report but we can't, we don't think there is enough evidence there to file a charge so we aren't going to present it that way,'" said Kleine.
The federal indictment also raises concerns about the case, highlighting phone calls between Olson, Johnny Palermo and Richard Gonzalez.
For example — Johnny Palermo telling Olson that he just has to say it was consensual, adding "I worked that unit, you can't prove it. You can't prove like sexual assault you know what I mean?”
Another example is when Gonzalez said to witness #3, not named in the indictment, that Olson was never talked to. A quote from the indictment read "Never got nothing cause ... our inside person basically said there's nothing there anyway."
3 News Now Reporter Molly Hudson reached out to OPD to see where this case stands.
Police said in a statement: "The related sexual assault investigation was thoroughly conducted by our detectives and presented to the Douglas County Attorney's Office for prosecution. Unfortunately, it did not move past this point. This is not unusual for sexual assault cases, as they are very sensitive and difficult to prosecute for various reasons."
Police say the case is closed unless other evidence is uncovered.
Kleine said he asked the sexual assault unit to re-look at this case to ensure there was no evidence of anything affecting the investigation saying "I'll find out if there was any implication of anybody else as far doing something to help this guy out, that's what we want to find out."
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