Atwater reaches settlement with former police officer cleared of sexual misconduct charges

ATWATER - The city of Atwater has reached a financial settlement with a former part-time police officer who was acquitted of criminal sexual conduct charges.

In a unanimous vote Wednesday, the council approved a negotiated settlement to pay Paul Schmidt $7,500 in legal fees and $15,803 for 14 months of back pay that he'd been denied after being charged in the case.

The League of Minnesota Cities, which is the city's insurer, will pay all the costs.

As part of the agreement, Schmidt has resigned from the police department, even though he never went back to the job after being accused of groping a woman in October of 2007 while he was on duty.

Schmidt was found not guilty of the charges by a jury in November.

Read more about this story in tomorrow's West Central Tribune.