Skip to main content
Michigan’s nonpartisan, nonprofit news source

Informing you and your community in 2025

Bridge Michigan’s year-end fundraising campaign is happening now! As we barrel toward 2025, we are crafting our strategy to watchdog Michigan’s newly elected officials, launch regional newsletters to better serve West and North Michigan, explore Michigan’s great outdoors with our new Outdoor Life reporter, innovate our news delivery and engagement opportunities, and much more!

Will you help us prepare for the new year? Your tax-deductible support makes our work possible!

Pay with VISA Pay with MasterCard Pay with American Express Pay with PayPal Donate

Lee Chatfield’s home searched amid criminal probe, Dana Nessel confirms

Lee Chatfield
Former House Speaker Lee Chatfield is under criminal investigation following allegations that he sexually assaulted his sister-in-law beginning when she was a teenage student. (Photo by Michigan House Republicans)

MACKINAC ISLAND — Investigators have searched the northern Michigan home of former House Speaker Lee Chatfield, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel confirmed to Bridge Michigan on Wednesday.

Chatfield’s sister-in-law has accused him of sexual assault, and police have sought records related to his finances during his 2014 campaign and while in office from 2015 through 2020.

Nessel confirmed the raid during an interview Wednesday at the Mackinac Policy Conference, telling a reporter “your information is accurate” when asked if the Michigan State Police have searched Chatfield’s home.

Related:

Nessel declined to comment on whether Chatfield cooperated with the investigation, or whether authorities have interviewed him. She also did not say when the search occurred, only that “there was a search warrant executed.”

Chatfield, 34, a Republican, was the state’s youngest House speaker. He has not spoken publicly since his 26-year-old sister-in-law told Bridge Michigan and police in December that he sexually abused her for years, beginning when she was a teenage student at the Northern Michigan Christian Academy in Cheboygan County’s Burt Lake.

Chatfield’s father, Rusty Chatfield, runs the school, and Lee Chatfield was a teacher and coach there when Rebekah Chatfield said he began grooming and then assaulting her starting when she was 15 or 16 years old. 

Rebekah Chatfield later went on to marry Lee Chatfield’s younger brother, Aaron.

In an interview with Bridge, Aaron Chatfield characterized his older brother as a philanderer who traveled frequently, lived a luxurious lifestyle and was “gone all the time” when he was in office. 

As Bridge and the Michigan Campaign Finance Network along with other news outlets have reported, Chatfield was known for prolific fundraising and spending. A single nonprofit tied to Chatfield, the Peninsula Fund, spent nearly half-a-million dollars on travel and food in 2020, records show.

Records obtained by Bridge show that state police in February raided the Bath Township home of two close Chatfield associates, Rob and Anne Minard, seeking financial records tied to Chatfield’s campaigns and time in office.

A warrant for that search gave police permission to take “any and all records” since 2014 related to political action committees and 501(c)(4) nonprofit corporations associated with Chatfield.

Through a lawyer, the married Chatfield has denied the assault allegations, saying he and Rebekah Chatfield had a years-long affair that began when both were consenting adults. 

His attorney, Mary Chartier, has also said that “to (Chatfield’s) knowledge, all finances were handled properly, and every law was followed.”

Neither Chartier nor Rebekah Chatfield’s attorney, Jamie White, responded to calls and emails from Bridge on Tuesday and Wednesday.

A spokesperson for the Michigan State Police declined to comment, citing an active investigation.

Public records show Lee Chatfield shares the address in Levering with his parents. 

Reached by Bridge on Wednesday, Rusty Chatfield declined to comment.

It’s the fourth known police search tied to the Chatfield case. Beyond the search of the Minard house, police also searched the Northern Michigan Christian Academy in January and confiscated Aaron Chatfield’s cell phone in February.

Because of court-ordered suppressions, limited information is publicly known about the nature of those searches.

How impactful was this article for you?

Only donate if we've informed you about important Michigan issues

See what new members are saying about why they donated to Bridge Michigan:

  • “In order for this information to be accurate and unbiased it must be underwritten by its readers, not by special interests.” - Larry S.
  • “Not many other media sources report on the topics Bridge does.” - Susan B.
  • “Your journalism is outstanding and rare these days.” - Mark S.

If you want to ensure the future of nonpartisan, nonprofit Michigan journalism, please become a member today. You, too, will be asked why you donated and maybe we'll feature your quote next time!

Pay with VISA Pay with MasterCard Pay with American Express Pay with PayPal Donate Now