Robert Kearns’ sad saga has seemingly come to a close.
KYW Newsradio reports that the former Montco GOP chairman pleaded “no contest” today to an indecent assault charge stemming from an incident with a female co-worker after an October 2013 party at his law firm.
The “no contest” plea does not admit guilt, but does recognize that the prosecution has enough evidence to obtain a conviction, should the proceeding go to trial.
The plea did not net Kerns any time behind bars, and apparently the victim is fine with this, according to Pennsylvania deputy attorney general Daniel Dye.
“She is someone that came in here today hoping that he would be ‘aired out,’” Dye said. “In the world that we live in today, many individuals who perpetrate are never seen for who what they truly are, and as of today the defendant is seen for exactly what he is.”
Kern’s defense attorney Brian McGonagle acknowledged his client did not wish for a drawn out, combative trail.
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7 Responses
So
@ John:
Don’t generalize, please; such misconduct is a bipartisan “affair.”
There goes Family Republican values out the window.
I shared my personal experience to tether what occurred when I was interacting with him and what occurred when he allegedly raped the paralegal; the key-point here is that his ego hadn’t been checked, and the key-observation is that his sentence seems peculiarly light.
Sklaroff, your a whacko.
I am so glad Robert B. Sklaroff, M.D. was able to rejoice in Robert Kerns’ schadenfreude. But, equating sexual assault to not being allowed a hearing on the minutia of MontCo GOP by-laws seems tone-deaf and completely out of balance.
I wrote a comment on the relevant page of the Inqy that has yet to emerge, which I’ll paraphrase herein.
philly.com/philly/news/20141125_Kerns_pleads_no_contest_to_indecent_assault_charge.html#afHoWpJDtiw1kgKA.99
There is a certain “Schadenfreude” component to hearing the news that Kerns has not evaded this manifestation of his expansive ego.
I had experienced it, years ago, when he had altered the MontCo GOP’s Bylaws to allow himself to serve a six-year term as chair; I felt that any such change should not be invoked to affect favorably the current occupant of the office and, further, that the lingo of the bylaws explicitly mandated that he stand for election.
Yet, despite my having sent him a registered-letter documenting my plan to propose this during a meeting of the MCRC, he suddenly went “deaf” and, later, said that he “thought he heard a voice” [mine, yelling] which he had most definitely ignored while rapidly pushing his agenda.
theintell.com/news/local/dissidents-unable-to-topple-montco-gop-leadership/article_387a529b-9424-5869-826a-bd31ed44bca5.html
I had supported his election as an energetic “reformer” and, thus, had been doubly-disappointed; he was as aloof as had been his predecessor[s] and, thus, “promised” to maintain his position so as to accrue township-level solicitorships [it was alleged].
All this notwithstanding, it seems inappropriate that he has not been incarcerated and that his designation as a sex-offender has a “term-limit”; furthermore, it is unclear whether any consequences would follow his “evaluation to determine whether he is a sexually violent predator.”
[The comment by “Donald Segretti” decrying “No jail time.?..? What a joke!” recalls the antics of this individual during the Watergate era; Kerns may have descended from the ranks of the elite, but he still allegedly double-raped the drugged-lady.]
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Segretti
In any case, the MCRC has healed from the divisiveness [and profound fiscal problems] he engendered, under the guidance of Rep. Mike Vereb; problems persist, but it seems its leadership has tackled them without manifesting favoritism.