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Judge Holds Off Decision On Old Forge Sex Trial

SCRANTON — It seems that two police officers from Lackawanna County facing child sex abuse charges will have to wait even longer to stand trial. Attorneys...

SCRANTON -- It seems that two police officers from Lackawanna County facing child sex abuse charges will have to wait even longer to stand trial.

Attorneys for the police chief and captain from Old Forge were in court Thursday arguing against having the men stand trial together.

Those attorneys for Old Forge Police Chief Larry Semenza and Captain Jamie Krenitsky along with prosecutors from the Lackawanna County D.A.'s office were at the courthouse for what's called a pre-trial conference.

They left without knowing if the chief and his captain will be tried together.

Old Forge Police Chief Larry Semenza didn't need to be at the hearing for his upcoming trial in Lackawanna County court. His attorney did all the talking but Semenza sat quietly as attorneys argued back and forth over whether he should stand trial together with his Captain Jamie Krenitsky.

Semenza, Krenitsky, and former Old Forge firefighter Walter Chiavacci were all arrested in May of 2012 after a young woman told police that the men sexually abused her when she was 15.

Chiavacci pleaded guilty to his charges in December of 2012.

Prosecutors want to put Semenza and Krenitsky on trial together.

After hearing almost two hours of arguments for and against a joint trial , a judge held off on his decision.

So, whether there are two trials or one, it's likely they won't be anytime soon.

"There (are) rights and procedures that must be followed and we appreciate that. We work in a certain system and sometimes it's not as timely as we would like. I mean, it's the best system in the world, as they say," said Jennifer McCambridge, deputy assistant district attorney.

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