LAWRENCE Mass.— The city yesterday rejected a plea to
reinstate a cop Mayor William Lantigua fired last month after the officer was
accused of sexually assaulting children in Florida and New Hampshire. In a
four-sentence ruling, Personnel Director Frank Bonet denied the grievance filed
by the Lawrence Patrolmen’s Association arguing
that Officer Carlos Gonzalez should be reinstated to his $60,000-a-year job.
Gonzalez was charged in December with raping a girl under
the age of 12 in Haines City, Fla., earlier that year. The charges caused New
Hampshire law enforcement officials to reopen their investigation into
allegations that Gonzalez sexually assaulted a girl under age 13 in Salem,
N.H., in 1992 and 1993. He was indicted on those charges in June.