By Dave O'Brien

Record-Courier staff writer

A Portage County sheriff's detective is on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation into charges he plagiarized at least one and possibly more plays written by a Canadian playwright.

In a controversy spanning two countries, Jack L. Herman, the detective in charge of Portage County's concealed carry weapons permit program, was reported in several media outlets to have stolen the work of Canadian playwright David Belke and claimed it as his own while Herman was president of Kent's Tree City Players theater group.

Herman, the Tree City Players and several other community theatre groups put on productions of "The Unexpected Return of Sherlock Holmes," a play Herman claimed to have written, between 2000 and 2005.

Only, Herman didn't write it. Instead, he bought a copy of Belke's play and five others -- but not the rights to produce it -- from the Playwrights Union of Canada in 1999, changed the name and touted it as his own, according to the Edmonton Journal and those whom Herman allegedly plagiarized.

Portage County Sheriff Duane Kaley said he first heard of the allegations Wednesday when contacted by a reporter. Putting Herman on paid leave is "standard" under the circumstances, he added, "until we have an opportunity to really find out what's going on."

"I had no idea if it was occurring, if in fact it did occur," Kaley said. "We're certainly going to inquire into it to see. I just don't know all the facts of it, because I'm going off what the news media has told me."

Kaley also said he has yet to speak with Herman's accusers, though he spoke to Herman "briefly" Thursday and said he's "sure we'll be having conversations of a more in-depth nature."

Herman could not be reached for comment.

"The Reluctant Resurrection of Sherlock Holmes" is a mystery in which the ghost of fictional detective Sherlock Holmes haunts his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It was written in 1992 by David Belke, an Edmonton, Alberta actor, producer and playwright, according to the Edmonton Journal.

The newspaper reported this week that Belke and his agent were informed of similarities between the two works last year by a Maryland-based Sherlock Holmes fan. Acting as their own detectives, they contacted Bill Wolski, whose Coconut Productions theater company was set to perform "The Unexpected Return of Sherlock Holmes" in September 2006 in Los Angeles.

According to the Edmonton Journal, Herman paid $2,500 to Belke and his literary agent to settle the matter out of court. Herman's attorney, David Sed of Ravenna, did not return a phone call seeking comment.

A message seeking comment was left Thursday for Wolski, a Cleveland native and friend of Herman's who moved to Los Angeles from Northeastern Ohio in 2002. In a posting at www.billwolski.com, Wolski explained that he canceled the recent production because "it has come to the attention of Coconut Productions that 'The Unexpected Return of Sherlock Holmes' is a plagiarized work."

"We are voluntarily shutting down our production with the hope of restaging the piece in the near future, this time giving proper credit where due" and under Belke's title as "The Reluctant Resurrection of Sherlock Holmes," Wolski said on his Web site.

The Edmonton Journal also printed accusations, which Herman denied in an interview with that newspaper, that he put his own name on two other works -- Ontario, Canada playwright Kim Selody's "Suddenly Shakespeare" from 1988 and "I'll Be Back Before Midnight" by Peter Colley, which the Toronto Globe and Mail called "the most popular stage play in Canadian history" and one later made into "Illusions," a 1992 cable TV movie.

Herman is said to have changed only minor details in the plays, from the first name of a character in the Sherlock Holmes play to reworking the title of Colley's play to "Before Midnight!"

Herman told the Edmonton Journal he was just trying to keep the Tree City Players afloat.

"I am ashamed of what I did. I have done what I can to try to make restitution financially to Mr. Belke. I have personally apologized to him and I would like to see the matter put to an end at this time," he said, according to the Canadian newspaper.

The Tree City Players formed in 1995. In 1999, the community theatre group opened their own theatre at 124 E. Main St. in Kent. It later closed, and the Tree City Players found a new home at The Kent Stage when that venue opened in 2002.

Tom Simpson, the manager of The Kent Stage who has worked with Herman in the past, said he doesn't believe the Tree City Players put on any of the allegedly plagiarized works at the theatre. He said he was "definitely surprised" by the allegations and had "absolutely no idea" Herman was using the work of another playwright.

Former colleagues and others who know Herman and were contacted by the Record-Courier expressed shock at the allegations, but most had no comment.

Herman himself previously told the Record-Courier he had an interest in Kent having its own community theatre.

"I'm from Kent, and I've always wanted to start a theater group in Kent," Herman said for a June 14, 1997 article on the Tree City Players. "Kent's got a wealth of talent, and I thought, 'Why not?'"