Public Defender Charged With RAPE, Warned Victim ‘NO ONE IS GOING TO BELIEVE YOU’

[Segami]

“I know every single [District Attorney] in this town, and every single police officer, and no one is going to believe you.”
– Lackawanna, PA’s ex-Public Defender Kenneth Andrew Kovaleski

A former Lackawanna, Pennsylvania assistant public defender is set to go on trial this month for allegedly raping a teenage girl. The defendant apparently used his position within the justice system to keep his victim from talking. Fortunately, his threats were ignored and she spoke up. Two years ago Kenneth Andrew Kovaleski was charged with nine counts of rape. The charges include rape by forcible compulsion and involuntary deviant sexual intercourse with a person less than 16 years of age. His victim, a 15-year-old girl, told police that the abuse began in 2011. She said the public defender warned her, “I know every single [District Attorney] in this town, and every single police officer, and no one is going to believe you.”

“I know every single [District Attorney] in this town, and every single police officer, and no one is going to believe you.”
– Lackawanna, PA’s ex-Public Defender Kenneth Andrew Kovaleski

According to testimony the teen said that she lost track of how many times the public defender abused her. She said that she decided to come forward after Kovaleski grabbed her by the throat and threatened her when he found out she had a sexual relationship with a boy her age. Kovaleski was a Lackawanna County public defender until he was terminated in 2008. After his termination he sued the county claiming that Democratic commissioners fired him because he was a Republican. At the time of his arrest Kovaleski was working at a representative of parents in child-custody disputes and was once a legal guardian for children in Susquehanna County. Since his arrest another woman has come forward and accused the former public defender of raping her when she was fifteen too. What a lovely person he is (insert lots of sarcasm).


But, the DA did believe the girl’s story about the ex-public defender.

The District Attorney, Mariclaire Hayes, who Kovaleski was so sure wouldn’t believe the story of a 15-year-old girl, spoke to WNEP News at the time of his arrest.

“This is difficult, it’s sad, it’s certainly not something we take any pleasure in. This is an individual we had a professional relationship with. But, we don’t have the luxury of choosing which child predators we prosecute, we follow the evidence wherever it leads us. In that position he would be responsible for making sure a child is protected, so it is upsetting to think that somebody in that position would be taking advantage of a child in their own life.”

cont'


http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/02/18/public-defender-charged-rape-warned-victim-one-going-believe/

[Shrike47]

1. I note he hasn't been a public defender for more than 5 years.

He sounds like an awful human being but not, at this time, a public defender.

[Orrex]

2. Kudos to the victim

Very brave to speak up in the face of such intimidation!

[Lost_Count]

3. Hope she gets the justice she deserves...