Contact:
Robert Reed (312) 453-0631
Robert Herguth (312) 821-9030
 
CHICAGO—The Better Government Association – with media partner Chicago Sun-Times – was recently honored by the Chicago Journalists Association for a high-caliber investigative news story.
 
“Accused of Raping Intern, Cop Still on Force” uncovered irregularities with how police and prosecutors handled a 19-year-old female intern’s allegation that she was raped by a Forest Park police officer after a night of barhopping. The story won the CJA’s Sarah Brown Boyden award in the investigations category.
 
The article appeared last March in the Chicago Sun-Times and was written and reported by the BGA’s Andrew Schroedter and Robert Herguth.
 
The CJA judges said, “This clear, crisp, detailed investigative report resonated beyond the particulars of a single rape allegation in the Chicago suburb of Forest Park – by showing how a police department can almost pre-ordain outcomes of probes into claims that an officer committed sexual assault.”
 
“The story was straightforward, balanced, vivid and, in the end, disturbing,” the judges added.
 
“We’re grateful to the Chicago Journalists Association for recognizing our work,” said BGA President and CEO Andy Shaw. “Our investigative team works hard to expose alleged abuses and this story was a great example of that effort.”