Criminal Charge For Ex-Joliet Councilman Don Dickinson

JOLIET, IL — Don "Duck" Dickinson, who resigned from the Joliet City Council in November 2020, has been charged with criminal activity. Special prosecutor Bill Elward has charged the 61-year-old Dickinson with a misdemeanor criminal offense of attempted obstruction of justice, following a lengthy investigation by the Illinois State Police.

In November 2020, Patch reported that Dickinson filed a Joliet police report against Mayor Bob O'Dekirk. The mayor later told Patch he may be filing a police report of his own accusing Dickinson of filing a false police report surrounding the matter.

"I didn't have much respect for Don as a councilman, but I did have respect for him as a person, and I can't believe he would stoop so low to file a false police report against me and make up a lie as far as trying to blackmail him with nude photographs," O'Dekirk told Joliet Patch at the time.

On Thursday, O'Dekirk told Patch, "Don's never apologized. He's never come clean publicly, and he's never stepped up and told the truth."

As for his reaction to the criminal charge filed against Dickinson, "I knew all along the accusation against me was all a lie," O'Dekirk said.

Joliet Patch called Dickinson for comment Thursday, but his voicemail does not allow callers to leave messages. He also removed his Facebook page.

At the end of the Joliet City Council meeting on Nov. 2, 2020, Dickinson, 61, read from a prepared statement. Dickinson had accused the mayor of blackmailing him over nude photos that Dickinson had taken of himself and apparently sent to other people.

"Over the last six months, I have been put in a position that has been very uncomfortable for me with my role on the Council. This has affected all the decisions that I need to make to help the city of Joliet move forward," Dickinson declared during the Nov. 2, 2020, Council meeting.

"I feel I have been harassed, badgered, tormented and now blackmailed unfairly. This is over a personal relationship that I had a few years ago with another consenting adult. Photos were sent between us, for us and for us only."

O'Dekirk told Patch again on Thursday he was never involved in any blackmail scheme involving nude photos that Dickinson took of himself.

"Maybe he was being blackmailed, but it was not by me," O'Dekirk remarked. "I think Don needs to come clean, just who was blackmailing him? As you recall, there were a lot of 5-4 votes at that point on the Council and we hired and fired employees."

Two months earlier, that September, Dickinson posted an announcement on Facebook that he would not seek another four-year term in the upcoming April 6, 2021, elections. Besides serving on the council, Dickinson worked as a full-time employee with the Joliet Park District. He has previously served on the Joliet Township High School board for District 204.

Dickinson subsequently retired from his job as a maintenance worker at the Joliet Park District following his City Council scandal.

By the end of November 2020, Dickinson announced his resignation from the Joliet Council, making him the city's first elected official to resign since Jim McFarland in 2016.

Related Joliet Patch coverage of Dickinson's Nude Photo Scandal:

Naked 'Duck' Dickinson Photos: Mayor Says He Hasn't Seen Them

Mudron 5 Losing Power With Duck's Departure: Ferak Column

Jobe-Gavin Blasts 'Duck' Dickinson Over Nude Photo Controversy