Ex-cop admits harassing woman

A former Spokane County sheriff’s deputy and Tukwila, Wash., police officer has admitted harassing a woman he accused of “betraying him” in one of his unsuccessful campaigns for public office.

John George Kallas, 55, recently pleaded guilty to telephone harassment in exchange for dismissal of a second Spokane County District Court charge: that he stalked a woman who ran a political sign business.

After 12 years as a Spokane County sheriff’s deputy and nine years as a Tukwila police officer, Kallas returned to Spokane County and ran unsuccessfully for state representative in 1998 and 2000, and for the Spokane Valley City Council in 2002 and 2006. He announced in May 2006 that he would run for sheriff, but quickly changed his mind.

Kallas avoided a jail sentence for threatening Spokane Valley businesswoman Kay McGlocklin and her children in August 2006.

After his guilty plea last month to telephone harassment, visiting Whitman County District Court Judge Douglas Robinson sentenced Kallas to two years of probation. A three-month jail term and a $1,000 fine were suspended.

Kallas argued in court documents that he had been diagnosed as suffering from depression as well as “anxiety” and “personality” disorders involving “obsessive qualities.”

Court documents show Kallas smothered McGlocklin with unwanted romantic overtures, including letters in which Kallas told McGlocklin he loved her and her children as much as his wife and his own children.

McGlocklin said she never had a romantic relationship with Kallas.

She said the harassment culminated in an August 2006 message to “watch your back” because “I’m going to get you and your kids.”

Kallas also avoided a jail sentence in a 1995 incident in which he allegedly beat his wife; that charge was dismissed after he completed an anger-management course.

Another fourth-degree assault charge involving Kallas’ treatment of a suspected shoplifter at the Spokane Valley White Elephant store, where Kallas worked, was dropped in 2002.