Ex-police chief to get new trial in assault of teenager
A former northeastern Pennsylvania police chief has been granted a new trial on charges that he sexually assaulted a teenage girl a decade ago.
The (Scranton) Times-Tribune reports that a state appeals court ruled Friday that improper testimony was allowed in the trial of former Old Forge police chief Larry Semenza.
Semanza was convicted of corruption of a minor and failing to report suspected child abuse but acquitted of four other charges including aggravated indecent assault and unlawful contact with a minor. He was sentenced to 18 months to four years in prison.
Prosecutors alleged that Semenza and former police Capt. Jamie Krenitsky assaulted the girl beginning in 2004 when she was 15 and a junior firefighter. Krenitsky and a former firefighter pleaded guilty to misdemeanor indecent assault.
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