Old Forge Borough’s municipal building was nearly filled to capacity for
council’s vote to approve the suspension of Old Forge Police Chief Larry
Semenza and Police Captain Jamie Krenitsky during its monthly meeting on Wednesday,
May 16.
Council voted 7-0 in favor of suspending Semenza and Krenitsky without pay.
The two men were both arrested by the Pennsylvania State Police earlier this
month after being accused of allegedly sexually abusing a teenage girl
beginning in 2004.
“The reason of the suspensions are they both have been arrested on felony
criminal charges,” said Mayor Michele Avvisato.
Avvisato had suspended Semenza and Krenitsky, but that suspension would
lapse after council’s meeting, which required council to vote on a suspension
to finalize it.
Since Semenza and Krenitsky’s arrest, Officer Kim Buggey has been appointed
as the officer in charge.
Avvisato described the current status of the police force as “stable” after
the meeting. While Avvisato is satisfied with the current status of the Police
Department, it’s past actions that have consumed the minds of many in the
community, and they voiced their concerns last week.
Robert Hughes of Old Forge addressed council, asking Chairman Anthony Pero
if “in 2005 did you,…or your council members, know anything about the sex
scandal?” referring to the accusations made against Semenza and Krenitsky.
Pero replied “absolutely not” to the question.
Hughes then directed his comments to Avvisato, and questioned why she
wasn’t aware of the alleged actions the victim claims were committed by the two
members of the Old Forge Police Department.
“You’re supposed to run the Police Department. You’re supposed to know
everything that’s going on in the Police Department,” said Hughes to Avvisato.
Attorney Gerard M. Karam quickly jumped to Avvisato’s defense, explaining
the day-to-day operations of the Police Department are not the mayor’s
responsibility.
“The mayor’s job isn’t to run the Police Department, that’s the chief’s job
to run the Police Department. The mayor administers the scheduling of the
Police Department, and the procedures of the Police Department, but the running
of the Police Department is left up to the chief,” said Karam.
“Right now the running of the Police Department is left up to the officer
in charge, Officer Buggey, but no mayor in any borough knows everything that is
going on in a police department. It’s a part-time position, it’s an
administrative position, and that’s it. The day-to-day work in a police department
is the responsibility of the chief.”
During the meeting, council approved the hiring of Karam to act as special
counsel for the borough. He will represent the borough in any matters related
to Lackawanna County District Attorney’s Office’s criminal investigation of the
Police Department.
Council decided to bring Karam in after being informed that there could be
a conflict of interest for borough solicitor William Rinaldi, who is a county
assistant district attorney.
“When I was made aware of the conflict, I made a few phone calls to some
people that are active in the law community and (Karam) was recommended as
someone with both civil and criminal background, so that’s why he was our
choice,” said council member Brian Rinaldi following the meeting.
Rinadi also said that he has been approached by members of the community
concerning the current situation with the Police Department, and said the
majority of the comments have been positive.
“I’ve had a lot of supporting comments in the
community. I’ve had a lot of people approach me and say we love this town and
we’re proud of it, and we don’t care what happens, we’re still proud of it and
we’re going to wait the outcome,” said Rinaldi