DAILY RECORD

Pequannock official under fire for charges of sexual texts 

May 12, 2008

JOE UNGARO

The continued participation in township government by a man who recently agreed to a plea bargain to settle charges he sent sexually explicit text messages to three female high school students will be discussed at Tuesday's council meeting.

A significant number of people are expected to attend the meeting to protest the involvement of Steven Petrarca, 44, of the Pompton Plains section, who was accepted last month into Morris County's pretrial intervention program for first-time offenders to resolve two charges of harassment and one count of endangering the welfare of a child.

Petrarca serves on the township Board of Adjustment and the township Open Space Committee.  Police said Petrarca got the girls' cell phone numbers from one belonging to one of his sons, who attends Morris Catholic High School. The alleged messaging started around October, and the girls alerted school administrators in February about the nature of the texts.  Though the messages to all the girls were similar, a more serious charge relating to the youngest was filed because she was younger than 16.  Petrarca will be supervised on probation for 36 months, must perform 100 hours of community service, and cannot have any contact with the three girls, two of whom are 16 and one 15.  Mary Ann Daly-Couch, a township resident for 45 years who coaches soccer and softball and teaches religious education, has been leading the call for his resignation from the zoning board and the Open Space Committee.  Daly-Couch has been contacting friends and family members, urging them to show up at the meeting to protest his continuing presence on these boards.  "I was kind of surprised to find out he was on the board," Daly-Couch said. "And I know some people involved in the town, and they said he was not resigning."  Petrarca on Sunday said he had no comment on whether he was still a member of either the committee or board.  His attorney in the text messaging case, James Porfido, said Petrarca's participation in local government was disclosed at the time his case was resolved and that no conditions were imposed by the court at that time.

Porfido said it should be noted that Petrarca did not plead guilty to any crime. "From a legal standpoint, he did not plead guilty, nor is he guilty of anything as we speak," Porfido said. "He never made any admission."  If Petrarca, who has an engineering license and owns several Laundromats, successfully completes probation, the charges will be dismissed in three years and he will not have a criminal record. He is not, however, allowed to supervise any activities associated with Morris Catholic and had to forfeit his cellular phone as a condition of getting into PTI.  Porfido said he hasn't discussed the issue of board membership with Petrarca.  "I knew this issue would probably resurface at some point but he is not retaining my services to combat this effort," Porfido said. "If he does, I certainly would represent him." Daly-Couch said she wrote a letter to Mayor Nicholas Kapotes asking that Petrarca be removed, but got no response.  Kapotes did not return a call seeking comment.  Township Manager Kevin Boyle did not know exactly how long Petrarca had served on the boards, but he said it was a few years. Both positions are voluntary but require that the individual be appointed by the council.  Petrarca's open space committee assignment runs until Dec. 31, 2010 while his zoning board seat expires on the last day of 2009.  Boyle said the township has received complaints about Petrarca, and the council is trying to address the matter, but there are legal issues involved that can't be resolved quickly.  "They understand the public is upset and they are trying to address this," Boyle said. He added that the council likely will address the matter at Tuesday's meeting.  "It's not on the agenda, but I expect it to be addressed," Boyle said. "But I don't know what shape or form that is going to take."

Boyle, who said he has heard that a "good number of people" are going to be at the meeting, said the situation is quite unusual.  "In the 13 years I've been here, there's never been anything like this," Boyle said.  Joe Ungaro can be reached at (973) 428-6624 or jungaro@gannett.com.  What do they do?