State Rep. Bob Rita was among those who testified Friday in the trial of a Tinley Park political operative who stands accused of sending obscene and harassing text messages ahead of a previous election.

Timothy Pawula, a former political ally of Tinley Park Mayor Michael Glotz, was charged in October 2024 with two counts of both electronic harassment and transmitting obscene messages. Both charges are misdemeanors and carry a maximum sentence of 180 days in jail and an up to $1,500 fine, according to Cook County Associate Judge Mohammad Abedelal Ahmad.

The charges stem from texts Pawula allegedly sent to as many as 20 people, including Rita, April 4, 2023. One message, as presented during Friday’s trial, addresses voters of Tinley Park with claims that Ahleah Salefski, a candidate for village clerk at the time, lusted for both votes and sexual relations with Rita.

It was accompanied by a photoshopped image of a message Salefski posted on social media in 2017 that references “lusting after someone you know you probably shouldn’t,” according to prosecutors. Superimposed over the text were images of Rita’s and Salefski’s faces, with Salefski’s picture photoshopped to reference a sexual act.

“I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” Rita said during his testimony.

According to prosecutors, the content of the messages is false and qualifies as illegally obscene under state statute, using “language or terms which are obscene, lewd or immoral with the intent to offend.”

Pawula was working for the Big Tent Coalition, a political action committee founded by Tim Ozinga, R-Mokena, who was state representative in the 37th House District before abruptly resigning in April 2024. Pawula was Ozinga’s chief of staff and treasurer of his election committee.

In an ongoing lawsuit filed in February 2025, state Sen. Michael Hastings alleges Pawula, Glotz and the Big Tent Coalition conspired to organize a “smear campaign” leading up to the November 2022 election, which included sending out obscene text messages to voters.

At the time the message was sent, Rita was running for re-election as state representative and Salefski was running for the village clerk in Tinley Park. Salefski said during her testimony that Rita’s daughter is one of her best friends, and Rita was supporting her candidacy.

Upon seeing the messages, Salefski said she felt humiliated and worried about how many people it had been sent to.

“I felt like people were going to look at me like I was some sexual deviant,” Salefski said. “I was planning to start coaching for a youth organization, and I was worried that all these kids that I was planning to coach as well as their families were seeing these things about me.”

Master Sgt. Cary Morin of the Illinois State Police’s criminal investigations unit testified that Salefski reported the text message to police after her husband, Chad Salefski, received it on Election Day. The text allegedly came from an unknown number, which state police tied to Pawula after obtaining a search warrant for documents from Ping, the messaging app used by the sender, and Apple Inc.

Morin said state police also searched Pawula’s phone, where they found evidence of the messages sent to Chad Salefski and Rita along with a screenshot of them sent to a group chat that included Glotz. In one text sent to the group referencing the messages, prosecutors said Pawula described himself as “the dirtiest piggy in the pen.”

Prosecutors said messages in the group chat along with the fact that the Pawula sent the texts to Rita, Chad Salefski and other family and friends of Rita and Salefski show they were intended to offend the two political candidates.

But defense attorney Frank Andreano said while Pawula’s political tactics may have been unsavory, the text messages targeting Rita and Salefski qualify as protected speech under the First Amendment.

“An insult isn’t an obscenity,” Andreano said.

Andreano said reacting to the speech with subpoenas and search warrants is “frightening and scary” and sends a clear message.

“Oppose us, and if you say something we don’t like, the whole weight and force of the state of Illinois will come down on you,” Andreano said.

Judge Ahmad said he will issue a ruling in the case at 9 a.m. on March 27 at the Cook County courthouse at 10220 South 76th Ave., Bridgeview.

ostevens@chicagotribune.com