Armando Tebano
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Claims to fame: Former Schenectady (New York) County and City Republican chairman; former Republican county elections commissioner; family man; child molester
Moral apex: Groped a 14-year-old girl while watching a Star Wars movie with her at his home, in 2005.
Charged with: Three misdemeanor counts: third-degree sexual abuse, forcible touching and child endangerment.
Who comes out looking like the real schmuck of the story: Tebano’s lawyer, Peter Lynch.
Why? Well…
After Republicans “called on Tebano to resign his $75,000-a-year position as the county’s Republican elections commissioner and his unpaid duty as city GOP chairman” …
Said Lynch: Tebano had “no plans of leaving public office.”
But then: On June 1, 2006, Tebano announced his resignation as county chairman.
Tebano’s plea: Initially, not guilty.
Said Lynch: “[T]he evidence in the case is going to show plainly and simply that these allegations are false. Armando is an innocent guy.”
But then: In February, 2007, Tebano struck a deal, pleading guilty to second-degree harassment.
Said Lynch: Tebano’s guilty “had absolutely nothing to do with any inappropriate sexual behavior.”
The so-called punishment: “Under the plea bargain, Tebano pleaded guilty to second-degree harassment, which carries no time in jail. City Court Judge Guido Loyola also fined Tebano $250, plus court-related costs and ordered him to complete 250 hours of community service. He was also ordered to stay away from the girl, now 16, and give a DNA sample.” [Albany Times Union, February 8, 2007]
What’s worse than the slap-on-the-wrist outcome: This wasn’t the first time Tebano was suspected of child molestation: “Before the plea deal was struck, Loyola rejected an attempt by special prosecutor Jeb Conboy to enter into evidence four separate cases dating to 1996, where Tebano allegedly engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct. In one incident, Conboy alleged Tebano took ‘nearly nude’ pictures of three underage girls after luring them to a relative’s business.” [ibid.]
Said Lynch: “[T]he old cases were all lies.”
Suggested Bible reading for Mr. Tebano:
And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you.And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.
— Leviticus 26:17-18
Suggested Bible reading for Mr. Lynch:
He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.— Proverbs 18:13
