Steinberg twice detained for lewd conduct in mall restrooms
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Chicago police issued a misdemeanor summons to Steinberg in September 1996 in connection with a peeping Tom incident in a men's bathroom at the former Mervyn's department store at The Atrium shopping center, according to a Chicago Police Department incident report obtained by The Times-Picayune.  The report states that Steinberg watched a man use the bathroom while peering through a hole in a bathroom stall. The man held Steinberg until police arrived, at which time he was issued the misdemeanor summons and ordered to appear in court.  Steinberg said the man eventually withdrew his complaint, and the case was dismissed. A spokeswoman for the Chicago Police Department said the record was expunged.

Tapping foot in stall

In the second incident, Jefferson Parish deputies working an undercover detail in a men's bathroom at the food court at the Atrium Shopping Center in March 2000 stopped Steinberg after he indicated a desire to engage in sex with an undercover deputy in an adjoining bathroom stall, according to an interoffice memorandum written by Sgt. Keith Conley, one of the deputies involved in the investigation.

The report said Steinberg slid his foot into the deputy's stall and tapped the deputy's foot. In the report, Conley noted that such activity is common among men to indicate a willingness to participate in sex. The deputy inside the stall, Detective Wayne Couvillion, responded by tapping his foot, and Steinberg reached under the partition and began to rub the deputy's leg, the report states. The detective asked Steinberg, "What do you want?" according to the report, and he replied, "I want to blow you."

Steinberg also used a hand signal to indicate that he wanted to engage in sex and used language that indicated the same, according to the report. Conley, who is now the Chicago city attorney, confirmed the report's authenticity Thursday.

The incident did not culminate in an arrest because the deputy in the bathroom with Steinberg terminated the investigation after several children entered the bathroom, the report states. Conley noted in the report that Steinberg appeared well-versed and comfortable with the routine. Conley wrote that had the investigation been allowed to continue, it likely would have concluded in Steinberg's arrest on obscenity charges, including a possible attempted crime against nature.

Conley confronted Steinberg outside the bathroom, and Steinberg apologized and said he would not return, according to the report. Steinberg also said he has a problem with such behavior and had sought counseling for the addiction in the past, the report states.  In both instances, Steinberg produced his commission from the Chicago Police Office identifying him as a captain. Steinberg said Thursday he did not show his commission either time until officers asked him for identification, all of which he keeps in his wallet.

Struggling after the separation from Rocco

Steinberg said he has enjoyed being with Rocco and his people and thanked his supporters. A dancer and Peter Pan impersonator who had received several endorsements from local theater companies in Chicago, Steinberg also noted that the stress from enduring an anal probing from his life partner Rocco Dempsey and its aftermath might have gotten the best of him. He lost his Chicago home to Dempsey in an out of court settlement, and it took him almost 14 months to rebuild.