Judge lifts order blocking racy state emails

HARRISBURG — A former prosecutor who helped put serial pedophile Jerry Sandusky behind bars persuaded a judge last month to block release of sexually explicit emails shared on office computers by officials of the Attorney General's Office, court documents released on Friday reveal.

Judge Norman A. Krumenacher III, who supervises a state grand jury, on Friday lifted the order issued on Aug. 28 prohibiting the release of the emails over the objection of ex-Chief Deputy Attorney General Frank Fina. The judge declared he lacked jurisdiction because the emails did not relate to the grand jury as Fina contended.

The decision to release the potentially embarrassing emails rests with Attorney General Kathleen Kane. The Tribune-Review and three other newspapers are seeking the material.

The emails include photographs of partially clad and topless women, frontal nudity and men and women engaged in sexual acts, often accompanied by comments, jokes and wisecracks.

The emails were sent during at least a five-year period under former Attorneys General Tom Corbett, now the state's Republican governor, and his appointed successor, Linda Kelly, both of whom say they were unaware of the messages.

The emails have no direct connection to the prosecution of Sandusky, a former Penn State assistant football coach whose child sex abuse case drew international attention.

There were scores of recipients in the top prosecutor's office and elsewhere.

Police and prosecutors are held to a higher standard than others, said David Harris, professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and an expert on law enforcement behavior.

“This isn't breaking the law as far as I know, but it shows a kind of disregard for certain rules and regulations, which we like to think they would follow, and a kind of feeling, ‘The rules don't apply to us,' ” he said.

Continuing the behavior, he said, indicates that those involved believed they would not get caught or there would be no consequences. It raises questions about the “overall ethics and culture of the office,” Harris said.

The Office of Attorney General has a computer-use policy prohibiting “suggestive, pornographic or obscene material.” Corbett signed the policy in 2006.

Columbus Brooks, who runs a Pittsburgh-area human resources consulting business, said that when such rules are broken, it's up to the executive or leadership team to act. Possible punishments may include sexual harassment training or suspensions, but Brooks also recommends termination.

Corbett and Kelly said they would have stopped the emails quickly if they had known about them.

Fina handled top public corruption cases under both attorneys general. He helped convict almost two dozen state officials, most for using public resources for campaigns.

“Unfortunately, I am prevented by grand jury secrecy and a previous court order from commenting,” Fina said on Friday.

Kane, the first female Democrat elected to the post, has criticized Corbett's handling of the attorney general and governor's offices, and she campaigned by promising to probe his investigation of the Sandusky case.

Kane and Fina have had a long-running feud that became public several months ago. She declined to comment through an aide.

It's a difficult decision politically for Kane, said Larry Ceisler, a Philadelphia public relations consultant with Democratic ties.

“She's on such fragile political ground because the last few months have been so controversial for her,” said Ceisler. “She's got to think long and hard about what the downside and the upside is of releasing it.”

Kane would have to be clear about “what is the purpose of releasing them? Conversely, she has to explain why not.”

At an unrelated press conference Downtown on Friday, Katie McGinty, a spokeswoman for a campaign committee supporting Democratic gubernatorial nominee Tom Wolf, said the reports of what the emails contain are “deeply, deeply troubling,” and taxpayers deserve transparency.

The emails were found among more than 20 million deleted emails reconstructed by Kane's staff while re-examining the Sandusky case. That review by former federal prosecutor H. Geoffrey Moulton found no evidence of foot-dragging by Corbett for political reasons, as Kane proposed during her 2012 campaign.

Sandusky, 70, is serving 30 to 60 years in prison for molesting 10 boys.

Brad Bumsted is state Capitol reporter and Melissa Daniels is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Bumsted can be reached at 717-787-1405 or bbumsted@tribweb.com.