Published Tuesday, June 26, 2001
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Coach admits he did it, DA says
By Tom Fontaine
Herald Staff Writer
If Mercer County District Attorney James P. Epstein has his way, former Kennedy Christian basketball coach and dean of students Joe Votino will spend some time behind bars and never again work in a school.
The 44-year-old Votino, one of the winningest boys basketball coaches in Pennsylvania history, has admitted to having numerous sexual encounters with three female students, all 17 when the physical relationships began. Two served as volunteer aides in his office. Votino, who was fired May 17 from his dual roles at the Catholic school in Hermitage, signed an agreement to plead guilty to a single count of corruption of minors, Epstein said Monday.
The charge carries a maximum sentence of 2 1/2 to 5 years.
Epstein said his office is going to "advocate incarceration" when Votino’s case reaches a Mercer County common pleas judge, probably later this summer. A sentence of more than 23 months would land Votino in state prison.
"I can’t see him getting another job in education anywhere in America," Epstein said. The first-degree misdemeanor would show up on school clearances, added Assistant District Attorney Robert Kochems.
Epstein said he was satisfied the agreement and that it was the best resolution to the case, but said it didn’t restrict his office from investigating other allegations against Votino.
"If other victims come forward, we will pursue that," Epstein said during a press conference this morning.
The plea agreement and a criminal complaint filed Monday confirm rumors that have been swirling around Votino, of 503 Syme St., Masury, and Kennedy in recent months.
The DA’s office, its Child Abuse Prosecution Unit and Hermitage police spearheaded an investigation that lasted longer than 10 weeks. Sharon and Brookfield police departments also were involved in the probe. Thirty-three people -- including Votino, the three victims and Kennedy administration, faculty and staff -- were questioned, several more than once, in the span of 74 days.
The product of the sprawling probe, according to the complaint, was Votino’s admission during a June 15 interview at the Hermitage police station that he:
According to the complaint: "Votino took advantage of the dean-student relationship by befriending and flattering the girls and preying upon their innocence for the express purpose of luring them into having vaginal and/or other sexual intercourse."
The school first heard allegations of Votino’s misconduct on March 30, a Friday, according to school President Peter Iacino. The following Monday, April 2, the school began investigating the rumors and interviewed numerous students, Iacino said.
The DA’s office also launched a Kennedy probe that Monday. It began after the county’s Child Line abuse hotline received a call March 29 alleging Votino was "having sex with a female student," the complaint said. Epstein said a Kennedy teacher made the call after she was told of the allegation by a student who was not one of the victims. The call was immediately referred to Hermitage police, the complaint said.
That day investigators met with the mother of the girl who is referred to in the complaint as Victim Number 1, who initially denied having any improper contact with Votino.
She reversed her story three weeks later when she told police she and Votino had sex at his Brookfield home "on a regular basis" between Jan. 27 and April 8.
On April 9 the school "placed Mr. Votino on administrative leave and prohibited him from having any contacts with the school, its faculty, students and/or their activities," Iacino said.Two more victims were added to the complaint before the investigation was complete. The additional victims told police that they had sexual contact, including intercourse, with Votino at his Brookfield home, at the school and at a home in Sharon.
Each of the girls was urged either directly or indirectly by Votino to deny the allegations, the complaint said. They all talked.
Each of the relationships between Votino and the victims began late in the last two basketball seasons as Votino’s Golden Eagles soared through the last legs of their regular seasons en route to their third and fourth straight state titles, respectively. One of the victims said she had sex with Votino before every game.
Votino, a 1975 Kennedy graduate, guided the Golden Eagles to four state basketball titles in the last four years and six during his 19-year coaching tenure, during which he also served as the school’s disciplinarian.
Minutes before the June 15 interview, Votino accepted and signed a plea agreement that had been offered to him four days earlier by the DA’s office.
The interview was a requirement of a plea that features no sentence bargain and no referral to U.S. Attorney’s Office or the Trumbull County Prosecutor.
Epstein said the case would be "put on a fast track" to common pleas court after Votino’s arraignment, which has been scheduled for Wednesday morning before District Justice Ruth M. French, Mercer.
The case won’t be decided there. Corruption of minors is a first-degree misdemeanor, among the most serious non-felony offenses, and cannot be decided at the district justice level. Epstein said he hoped the case would be decided before the most recent victims left for college.
Mercer County president Judge Francis J. Fornelli won’t hear the common-pleas case because of his connections to the school.
Kennedy, which changes its name to Kennedy Catholic High School July 1, sent a letter today to parents at the school.
"While we are extremely saddened concerning all these events, our first concern has been and remains the physical, mental and spiritual welfare of our students," said Peter Iacino, school president.
"Unfortunately, the silence imposed on the school and the (Erie) Diocese was misinterpreted by some, but we trust that in the final analysis they will judge your school and the community by the actions we have taken," Iacino said.
Complaint details alleged seductions
A criminal complaint filed by Hermitage police in the corruption-of-minors case against former Kennedy Christian High School boys basketball coach and Dean of Students Joe Votino details the alleged seduction of three high-school age girls.
The three victims in the case are referred to in the complaint as victims Number 1, 2, and 3.
According to the complaint:
Votino usually picked up Victim Number 1 at "rendezvous points" in the valley and drove her to his home. Votino gave her gifts, complimented her, flirted with her, and passed notes to her. He kissed and fondled her in his school office. He began flirting with her the previous academic year, when she was a junior. She was 17 during the entire physical relationship.
Eleven days later, Votino and Victim Number 2, who was 17, had sex at Votino’s home. By April Votino had given her a "pre-engagement ring" and "promised to formally propose marriage at the Empire State Building in New York City when (she) completed her second year of college," the complaint said.
Votino and Victim Number 2 had sex "about twice a week" from Feb. 16 until the first week of April. During the span, Votino bought her "clothing items for his gratification" and they shared a special hand sign -- a curled index finger meant "I love you," the complaint said. They made out in his office. She turned 18 during their relationship. Votino began flirting with her the previous academic year, the complaint said.
She would help Votino get dressed up for his basketball games. Their relationship lasted longer than any of the three. It began Jan. 28, 2000, and continued through the end of that school year. Votino told Victim Number 3 that he loved her. The two also shared a special sign -- in this case, three taps meant "I love you." Votino would sometimes tap a microphone three times as he spoke to a crowded gymnasium as a signal of affection.