Commissioner, stripper relationship investigated by FDLE

Nick Nicholson and Kimberly Losurdo have both been in the news before. He was elected chairman of the Hernando County Commission in November 2012. A month later, Losurdo made national headlines after her child was rushed to the hospital from ingesting crack cocaine. Now, the two have found themselves in the news together.

Shortly after the arrest, her boyfriend told investigators the commissioner had been paying Losurdo for sex and taking her places to buy drugs. He told investigators he believed Nicholson was partially responsible for her drug habit, according to a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation.

Phone records obtained by FDLE indicated Nicholson and Losurdo exchanged calls for several months before he was elected and took office; the two continued to exchange phone calls until Christmas Day. She was arrested for child abuse two days later. Details of the relationship had not surfaced until the local blog Florida News Flash posted a copy of the investigation.

When interviewed by investigators the next month, Nicholson eventually admitted under oath the two met at a strip club where she worked and started having sex. He said he visited her home and bought food and groceries for her kids. When investigators asked about whether he drove Losurdo anywhere, he said he drove her to a friend’s house and gave her money to pay the friend.

"I didn't know what happened inside the building. Holy crap. That's a serious allegation," he said after a special agent told him about the report he'd taken her to buy drugs. "I absolutely did not do that."

Nicholson claimed he thought Losurdo was paying a friend back for money she had borrowed to pay a utility bill. He also said he had sex with her before or after he gave her money.

In a separate interview, Losurdo says the two met a the strip club and became friends. She denied having sex with him. None of the allegations in the FDLE report involved Nicholson using drugs. 

The FDLE forwarded the investigation to the state attorney's office. In a memo obtained by FOX 13, assistant state attorney Richard Ridgway told state attorney Matt King that the boyfriend's reports were hearsay, and Nicholson and Losurdo's statements were inconsistent, so there wasn't admissible evidence to support criminal charges. King declined to prosecute.

Losurdo, however, served time in jail for child abuse.

Nicholson recently announced plans to run for re-election. He declined to be interviewed.