A former information technology manager for the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Office facing trial on 2019 battery and child pornography charges has died, according to law-enforcement records.
Jeffrey Darter died Aug. 19 at a residence in The Acreage, an incident report provided by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office showed. He was 66. The agency confirmed it is conducting a death investigation but did not disclose additional details, citing the active investigation. It redacted most of the report it provided.
An attempt to reach Darter’s attorney, Michael Salnick, was unsuccessful. A spokesperson for the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office referred questions to the sheriff’s office.
Court records show Darter was scheduled to appear at a plea hearing on Aug. 21. Salnick instead notified the court of his death. Circuit Judge Cymonie Rowe has directed that a written order formally closing the case be prepared.
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Darter worked for the elections office for 28 years. His tenure as its IT manager included the recount in the 2000 presidential election, where Palm Beach County proved decisive in George W. Bush’s narrow victory over Al Gore both in Florida and the national Electoral College.
He faced 30 counts of child pornography and two counts of battery on a law-enforcement officer following his arrest in November 2019. Darter denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty.
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At that time, investigators with the South Florida Internet Crimes Against Children task force alleged that he possessed more than 170 images of adults sexually assaulting children. Elections Supervisor Wendy Sartory Link fired him in 2019 after investigators alleged that he shoved two detectives while trying to prevent them from accessing his cellphone.
His case was set to go to trial in October 2023, but was delayed as Darter’s attorneys challenged the legality of a sheriff’s search warrant and sought to suppress evidence investigators had obtained.
Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jwhigham@pbpost.com and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @JuliusWhigham. Help support our work: Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Former county elections official dies while awaiting child-porn trial
