A former Vandergrift police officer is accused of having sex with a minor about 100 times in the early to mid-1990s, when he worked as a part-time patrolman for the borough.
A criminal complaint filed by state police alleges former Sgt. Anthony “Tony” Depanicis invited a 14-year-old girl to his Oklahoma Borough home for sex in 1991 — a ritual he’d repeat with the same girl on a near-weekly basis until she was 17, police say.
Depanicis was 25 during that first alleged encounter.
Now, at 59, he’s being charged with corruption of minors, a first-degree misdemeanor.
Why charges were filed more than three decades after the alleged relationship ended is unclear.
In general, Pennsylvania law allows for criminal charges related to childhood sexual abuse to be filed until the victim turns 50.
The criminal complaint brought by state police does not address the delay nor does it note when the alleged victim came forward — just that she did.
Clifford Greenfield, a public information officer for state police, did not immediately return a request for further information.
State police said in the complaint that the alleged victim befriended Depanicis in the summer of 1991, while she was living in Vandergrift.
Depanicis had started with the department a few months earlier, police Chief Joseph Caporali said.
Depanicis became a full-time officer for Vandergrift in 1995.
Shortly after Depanicis met the alleged victim, he invited her to his residence on Hancock Street in Oklahoma Borough, where they had sex, according to state police.
Duke George, the attorney representing Depanicis, declined to comment, saying he has yet to speak with his client or review the case.
Caporali, who was with the department in the 1990s, but not as chief, said he had no information on the alleged incidents or investigation.
Depanicis worked as a Vandergrift police officer until September.
His retirement came almost exactly three years after he was assaulted during an arrest, leaving him with a major shoulder injury that he described in a sentencing hearing for his assailant as career-ruining.
After leaving the Vandergrift Police Department, Depanicis took a job as a security officer at Homer-Center School District in Indiana County.
Superintendent Ralph Cecere informed parents in a letter addressing the allegations that Depanicis has been fired and the district is cooperating with state police.
Depanicis is free on a $10,000 unsecured bond.
His preliminary hearing is set for April 1 before District Judge Cheryl Peck-Yakopec.