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

JOLIET, IL — Last Monday, Joliet City Councilman Don "Duck" Dickinson filed a police report claiming that Mayor Bob O'Dekirk was blackmailing him with nude photos that Dickinson claimed he was exchanging with a woman who was a consenting adult. The police report listed Joliet Park Board member Jennifer Jobe-Gavin as that woman, a claim she denies.

On Tuesday, Jobe-Gavin — Joliet's first-ever African-American woman elected to the Joliet Park Board — issued a news release denouncing Dickinson's actions and threatening to sue.

As last week's Joliet City Council meeting was drawing to a close, the Joliet Herald-News published an article in which Dickinson accused O'Dekirk of blackmailing him. After suggesting at last week's City Council meeting that he had been the target of blackmail efforts for the past several months, Dickinson has since taken down his Facebook page.

"The libelous and malicious statements made by Councilman Dickinson in thus said article, which have been subsequently reported by other various media outlets and online by Suzanna Christine Ibarra, Will County Progressives Chairwoman, have defamed Jobe-Gavin and caused her intentional infliction of emotional distress personally, in her community, professionally as a woman and an elected public official," Jobe-Gavin said in Tuesday's statement.

In the Nov. 2 edition of the Joliet Herald-News, "Councilman-at-Large Don “Duck” Dickinson knowingly, recklessly, maliciously made false and slanderous statements regarding Jennifer Jobe-Gavin as the person that received nude pictures of Councilman Dickinson and had since allowed them to fall into the wrong hands, in-addition to other maleficent assertions," Jobe-Gavin said in Tuesday's statement.

"On July 3, 2020, Jobe-Gavin informed Councilman Dickinson that she was withdrawing her endorsement for his re-election bid for councilman-at-large for the April 2021 elections. In her capacity and role as a sworn-in elected official, she has never had an intimate relationship with Councilman Dickinson," the statement continued.

On Tuesday afternoon, Joliet Patch left Dickinson a voicemail message seeking comment on Jobe-Gavin's statement.

In September, Dickinson announced he was not going to seek a second four-year term of office on the Joliet City Council. Besides being an at-large councilman, Dickinson has a full-time job as a maintenance employee for the Joliet Park Board.

"Due to the malicious actions of The City of Joliet Councilman-at-Large Don “Duck” Dickinson have left her with no other options but to move forward with litigious actions against said individuals," Jobe-Gavin's release said Tuesday.

Previous Joliet Patch coverage:

Naked Don Dickinson Photos: Mayor Says He's Never Seen Them

Nude Photos: Mayor Denies Blackmailing Duck Dickinson