Suspended Old Forge Police Chief Larry Semenza's new attorney has quietly begun his own strategy to fight back against claims his client sexually assaulted a teenage girl several years ago.
Peter Paul Olszewski Jr., a former Luzerne County district attorney and judge, filed court papers this week asking Lackawanna County Judge Vito P. Geroulo to force the now 23-year-old woman's psychologist and her civil attorney to turn over all communications they had with her about the accusations against the chief.
Mr. Olszewski has taken over the case from attorney David J. Solfanelli.
Court papers filed late last month do not indicate why Mr. Solfanelli is no longer representing the now-suspended, 48-year-old police chief.
Efforts to reach Mr. Solfanelli and Mr. Olszewski on Tuesday were unsuccessful.
To prepare for the chief's upcoming trial, Mr. Olszewski wants to review all documentation of the woman's conversations with Wilkes-Barre psychologist William F. Anzalone Jr., Psy.D., Scranton civil attorney Matt Slocum, and anyone else with whom she may have disclosed the sexual assault claims, his motion filed Monday said.
Mr. Slocum declined to comment. Efforts to reach Dr. Anzalone were unsuccessful.
The chief's attorney also wants all disclosures the woman made from the doctor, the lawyer and others about being sexually assaulted by suspended Old Forge Police Capt. Jamie Krenitsky, 34, and former borough firefighter Walter Chiavacci, 47.
Mr. Solfanelli and Capt. Krenitsky's attorney, Jason Mattioli, have argued the woman has made inconsistent statements about when the sexual assaults happened in their attempt to show she is not credible.
"Chief Semenza has vehemently, consistently and continuously denied any and all allegations of sexual misconduct of any kind made against him," Mr. Olszewski wrote.
Deputy District Attorney Jennifer McCambridge, who is prosecuting the case, has repeatedly said the victim is credible and has not changed her story.
Because she disclosed the claims to county investigations nearly seven years after she said the chief inappropriately touched her, Mr. Olszewski is trying to trace how many times she talked about it and to whom until she was interviewed by county investigators in May.
She spoke with Mr. Slocum - who has filed a federal lawsuit against the borough, the chief, the captain and Mr. Chiavacci - and Dr. Anzalone before she told law enforcement, Mr. Olszewski said.
The Times-Tribune does not identify victims of sexual assault.
In court in December, Mr. Chiavacci admitted he put his hands inside her underwear several years ago and fondled her. He pleaded guilty to indecent assault.
Despite attorney-client and doctor-patient confidentiality privileges, Mr. Olszewski argues he is still entitled to obtain the documentation, citing state case law.
Because Mr. Slocum was present when she revealed her claims to investigators in May, Mr. Olszewski argues the attorney-client privilege is waived.
Because she told investigators during the interview in May that the information she provided to them also had been revealed to her psychologist, she waived her right to that protection as well, Mr. Olszewski argued.
Contact the writer: smcconnell@ timesshamrock.com, @smcconnellTT on Twitter