A former information technology manager for the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Office who faced charges stemming from 2019 involving assault and child pornography has died, police records show.
Jeffrey Darter died Aug. 19 at a home in The Acreage, according to an incident report from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office. He was 66. The agency confirmed it was investigating the death but did not release further details, citing the ongoing investigation. The agency redacted much of the report it provided.
An attempt to reach Darter's attorney, Michael Salnick, was unsuccessful. A spokesman for the Palm Beach County District Attorney's Office referred questions to the sheriff's office.
Court records show Darter was scheduled to appear for a plea hearing on Aug. 21. Salnick instead notified the court of his death. Circuit Judge Cymonie Rowe ordered that a written order be entered to formally close the case.
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Darter worked for the elections office for 28 years. His tenure as IT manager included the recount of the 2000 presidential election, in which Palm Beach County proved decisive in George W. Bush's narrow victory over Al Gore in both Florida and the national electoral college.
After his arrest in November 2019, he was charged with 30 counts of child pornography and two counts of assault on a police officer. Darter denied the charges and pleaded not guilty.
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At the time, investigators with the South Florida Internet Crimes Against Children task force alleged he had more than 170 images of adults sexually abusing children. Election Supervisor Wendy Sartory Link fired him in 2019 after investigators alleged he pushed two detectives when he tried to prevent them from accessing his cellphone.
His case was scheduled to go to trial in October 2023 but was postponed after Darter's attorneys challenged the legality of a sheriff's search warrant and sought to suppress evidence investigators obtained.
Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at [email protected] and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @JuliusWhighamSupport our work: subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Former county elections official dies while awaiting trial on child porn charges
