Suspended Old Forge Police Chief Larry Semenza and Capt. Jamie Krenitsky will be tried separately for sexual abuse allegations, and testimony from a sexual assault expert will be excluded, according to an order from Lackawanna County Judge Vito P. Geroulo.
Both defendants are charged with different crimes, alleging separate and distinct acts, Judge Geroulo's order states. Separate defendants may be tried together if they are alleged to have participated in the same act or same series of acts.
Meanwhile, testimony from Kenneth Lanning, an expert on sexual assault, will be excluded because of a technicality.
Mr. Lanning's testimony was going to be added under a statute that allows qualified experts to testify regarding specific types of victim responses and victim behaviors in sexual offenses cases. The caveat in this case is the effective date of the legislation: Aug. 28, 2012. The complaint against Chief Semenza was filed on May 9, 2012 and Capt. Krenitsky's was filed May 2, 2012. Everything before the legislation's effective date is excluded, Judge Geroulo's order states.
Both men are charged with sexually assaulting the same teenage girl around the same period of time. In 2004, the then-15-year-old junior firefighter began a sexual relationship with Chief Semenza, also then a fire department captain. The relationship lasted until 2007.
Capt. Krenitsky and the victim performed oral sex on each other several times in a tiny bunk room of the fire department in 2005, she testified during the captain's June preliminary hearing.
The Times-Tribune does not identify victims of sexual assault.
Former borough firefighter Walter Chiavacci, also accused of sexually assaulting her, pleaded guilty to indecent assault in December.
During a March 14 pre-trial hearing, the captain's attorney, Jason Mattioli, and the chief's attorney, Peter Paul Olszewski Jr., contended that a joint trial would not necessarily equate to a fair trial.
After the prosecution announced on Jan. 15 they would be calling Mr. Lanning to provide testimony on the dynamics of sexual violence, victim responses to sexual violence and the impact of sexual violence during and after an assault, both attorneys filed motions to strike it.
"We respect the court's decision and will move forward with the prosecution," said Deputy District Attorney Jennifer McCambridge via text message. "The strength of the Commonwealth case is not diminished. The evidence will continue to speak for itself."
Contact the writer: jkohut@timesshamrock.com, @jkohutTT on Twitter