October incident, Illinois State Police investigation drive Prince resignation

An unfortunate on-again, off-again pattern of errant behavior and sexually suggestive remarks led to the resignation of an otherwise solid Du Quoin law enforcement officer, Lee Prince, earlier this month

The Du Quoin City Council accepted his letter of resignation signed with "Sincere regret" and dated Feb. 3 at the Feb. 8 meeting.

The resignation comes on the heels of an incident last October where Prince made inappropriate suggestive remarks to a Du Quoin couple, Chester and Amanda Hale, who threatened a lawsuit against the City of Du Quoin over the incident.

The incident happened Oct. 8 of last year and by Oct. 20 had carried the threat of litigation.

In exchange for a signed release that the claim would not be pursued the City of Du Quoin reached a $1,000 settlement with the couple. In the alternative, the city was facing upwards of $5,000 in legal bills to defend against the claim.

Prince was given a three-day suspension (30 hours of work) and required to seek counseling along with monthly evaluations for a year. The settlement agreement cited Prince's "lack of professionalism which is consistent with past lapses of judgement." The agreement was signed Jan. 22, 2016.

As this story is written there is also an Illinois State Police investigation of Prince from an alleged incident 2 1/2 years ago with what some believe is a "50-50" chance that it will go anywhere.

After some apparent soul-searching Prince apparently decided it was best to submit his resignation and is expected to return to his hometown of McLeansboro.

The outset of incidents involving Prince actually date back to 2011.

Prince was arrested in February 2011 on two counts of domestic battery in an altercation with a woman identified as Leslie Furry. The charge was for hair pulling and holding the woman down.

On April 30, 2012 it was agreed to drop the domestic battery complaint in a plea agreement. Instead, he pled guilty to battery, was sentenced to 12 months of supervision which ended in April 2013 and was fined $900. He was reinstated and later earned the rank of police sergeant.