An investigation has cleared a prosecutor for Orange and Osceola County of any wrongdoing after he posted a controversial message on Facebook mentioning "crack hoes" on Mother's Day.

Assistant State Attorney Ken Lewis was demoted in May during an internal investigation to see if his comments or political views may have affected cases he worked on for the state of Florida.

In an official letter obtained by News 13, Chief Assistant State Attorney Linda Drane Burdick told State Attorney Jeff Ashton she found no evidence that Lewis showed any bias related to his Facebook post in handling any cases assigned to him.

In a post on his personal Facebook profile dated May 11, Mother's Day, Lewis wrote:

Happy Mother's Day to all the crack hoes out there. It's never too late to turn it around, tie your tubes, clean up your life and make a difference to someone out there that deserves a better mother.

Lewis later apologized to the public for his comments, admitting he used a "poor choice of words," but adding his message was the same.

Lewis said he didn't think anyone but his Facebook friends would see the comment, but the post was published as public instead of Facebook's optional "friends only" setting for status updates, photos, links and other information.

During the investigation, Lewis was reassigned from the Ninth Judicial Circuit's major crimes division to general felonies. He was also ordered required sensitivity training. He was not formally reprimanded for his remarks.

In her letter to Ashton, Burdick said she looked into whether specific victims or their families felt Lewis showed any prejudice in handling their cases, but her internal investigation did not find any improper conduct by Lewis on the job.

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