3 weeks out from election, Northern Colorado sheriff accuses district attorney of not prosecuting child predators properly

Two of Larimer County's top law enforcement officials are at odds over how the Colorado county's district attorney's office is prosecuting suspects of some crimes. Larimer County Sheriff John Feyen, a Republican, has publicly criticized District Attorney Gordon McLaughlin, a Democrat, of letting at least one sex offender suspect off easy from prosecution. McLaughlin denies the accusations, claiming they are politically fueled.

In recent weeks the Larimer County Sheriff's Office has released some press releases calling out McLaughlin's office for allegedly letting criminals off easy compared to the charges they initially faced. One of the main cases highlighted by LCSO involved a man who was arrested for trying to pay $450 to have sexual relations with what he believed was a 14-year-old girl.

Police lured him off of a website to Larimer County -- the man lived in the Denver metro area. He agreed to pay $450 for sex with the teenager, who in actuality was an employee of LCSO playing the role. He showed up to the previously agreed upon location and was arrested.

"We do these operations on a regular basis. We expect when somebody shows up to have sex with a 14-year-old individual, whether that person is real or they think they are real, there should be some accountability to that," Feyen said.

However, Feyen said he was shocked to learn the same man had reached a plea agreement with the district attorney's office to be sentenced to six months' probation instead of jail time.

"To get probation is frustrating," Feyen said.

After seeing LCSO's press release about the case, McLaughlin's office countered with a release of their own.

McLaughlin's office claimed the sentence the man received was accepted by a judge and accused LCSO of failing to provide enough evidence to be able to prosecute the man beyond what they did. McLaughlin then accused LCSO of bringing potentially sexually-violent criminals into Larimer County.

McLaughlin sat down with CBS News Colorado on Wednesday. There, he claimed the plea agreements his office extends to criminals have never been an issue until right before the election. McLaughlin is currently seeking reelection.

"These cases have been resolved the same way for the last ten years. Under my Democratic administration, under the prior Republican administration. And, the first time, it is coming up is three weeks before the election," McLaughlin said.

McLaughlin accused LCSO of creating an issue that he says doesn't exist, comparing it to Donald Trump's recent visit to Aurora in which he inaccurately claimed the entire city had been "conquered" by a criminal gang from Venezuela.

"This is a manufactured issue," McLaughlin said.

McLaughlin suggested there was evidentiary concerns with the cases highlighted by the LCSO releases, resulting in his office not being able to secure further sentences in a plea agreement.

However, Feyen disagreed with McLaughlin's claims.

Feyen claimed staff from McLaughlin's office were directly involved in their sting operations and could've helped guide investigators throughout the process if they were lacking the evidence needed to prosecute.

"They are part of the planning process, they are in the room when we make these communications. They are the ones who make those final filing decisions." Feyen claimed. "If you are going to plea them all away, why waste the taxpayers' money? Why waste my investigators' time?"

However, in a statement issued to CBS News Colorado, McLaughlin's office denied those claims by Feyen.

"While our office collaborates, provides legal advice, and reviews warrants, at no point do our attorneys step into the role of detectives. The goal is to support law enforcement, but their investigation is their own," the statement read in-part.

Feyen said his agency only recently learned of some of the plea agreements they are concerned with, saying that the timing of their releases were not politically motivated around election season.

Feyen said he couldn't imagine one person in Larimer County who would approve of someone receiving probation for attempting to have sex with someone they believed to be underage.

McLaughlin countered, saying if someone was attempting to sexually assault a real teenager in Larimer County his office would not have reached a similar plea agreement. He also suggested both sides iron out their disagreements in private.

"If they wanted to solve problems they would pick up the phone," McLaughlin said.