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LCCC elects SADAA officers

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Jewel of the nineties: Jnco jeans make a comeback, available for pre-order in advance of December release

<p>WILKES-BARRE TWP. &#8212; Michael Robinholt asked the township council at Monday&#8217;s regular meeting why the municipality allows a convicted child predator to remain a member of its volunteer fire department.</p><p>Robinholt, who said he resigned from the department six to seven months ago, referred to a multi-paged stapled handout containing information from the state&#8217;s Department of Human Services and the Fire Commissioner.</p><p>Also attached to the handout was a copy of Assistant Fire Chief Kevin Halecki&#8217;s profile on the Megan&#8217;s Law website.</p><p>&#8220;How is it that he can be around children when, according to Megan&#8217;s Law, he&#8217;s not supposed to be?&#8221; Robinholt asked.</p><p>Mayor Carl Kuren said there is nothing in the document that states Halecki shouldn&#8217;t be around children.</p><p>Court records indicate Halecki, 34, of Harris Street, pleaded guilty in August 2005 to three counts of possession of child pornography. He was sentenced three months later to one year in the county&#8217;s Intermediate Punishment Program (IPP) and ordered to register with state police as a sex offender for 10 years.</p><p>&#8220;Why did you leave the fire department?&#8221; Kuren asked Robinholt.</p><p>&#8220;Because I didn&#8217;t like the way it was run and there was no training,&#8221; Robinholt answered. &#8220;And the night before I quit, a member physically grabbed me and put me up against the wall.&#8221;</p><p>Current fire chief Richard Hart said Robinholt was kicked out of the fire department because he disregarded warnings to stop harassing his ex-girlfriend from the fire department&#8217;s phone.</p><p>Solicitor Bruce Phillips said the township &#8220;has nothing to do with the fire department,&#8221; but pointed out the department does an &#8220;exemplary job.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;They helped recover the money that (former fire chief John Yuknavich) stole,&#8221; he said. &#8220;These guys got the money back.&#8221;</p><p>Phillips also said threatening social media postings regarding Halecki and the fire department would be turned over to authorities.</p><p>After the meeting, Kuren said Robinholt is bringing up Halecki&#8217;s past in retaliation for being dismissed from the department. Hart added that Halecki is not prohibited from serving in the fire department because he doesn&#8217;t work with children, as the department does not sponsor a junior program for youths under 18.</p><p>Hart also said he received an email Monday from Robin Snyder, a secretary with the state&#8217;s Fire Commissioner&#8217;s office in Harrisburg that read: &#8220;If you do not do a junior program, there is no need for background checks for existing members.&#8221;</p><p>Hart said background checks are now required for all new members.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Kevin Halecki in his most recent photo on the Megan&#8217;s Law website. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_halecki.jpg</photo0><caption0>Kevin Halecki in his most recent photo on the Megan&#8217;s Law website. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Camille Fioti</p><p>For Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div>

Removed W-B Twp. firefighter raises question about official’s 2005 child porn conviction