St. Louis County prosecutor resigns

A St. Louis County prosecutor has resigned following word that his text, voicemail and photo messages with a paralegal were the subject of a federal investigation.

John Quarenghi, 48, a "team leader" in Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch's office, resigned in December after learning about the federal investigations of his communications with Jillian Nichols, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Nichols, 26, was indicted in federal court Feb. 19, accused of promising a sexual assualt defendant favoritism from an unnamed prosecutor for $10,000. The investigation hasn't revealed whether that prosecutor was Quarenghi, but noted the assistant prosecutor, whoever he or she was, did not solicit any bribe.

Read more from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.