The city plans to fire Chris Davis, who was suspended from his job as a patrolman without pay in June when he was first arrested, city Director of Public Safety Raymond Hayes said. A no contest plea means an accused person does not admit guilt but does not dispute the charges. At sentencing, it s treated the same as a guilty plea.
Mr. Davis, 34, of Colfax Avenue, entered the plea before Lackawanna County Judge Michael Barrasse, who ordered him to undergo an evaluation for sexual disorders at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland. The judge also ordered a presentencing investigation.
Such investigations, which focus on a suspect s background, help judges decide an appropriate sentence. Sentencing is likely to take place in about three months, but no firm date is set. Mr.
Davis told the judge he is taking the anti-anxiety prescription drug Xanax. His lawyer, attorney Paul Walker, held out hope his client would receive a probationary sentence, despite an earlier conviction on a drug charge. I don t think that s a possibility, Lackawanna County Assistant District Attorney Gene Riccardo said.
Mr. Riccardo said he ll seek jail time, and sentencing guidelines could mean at least two years in jail. Mr.
Davis pleaded no contest to indecent assault and official oppression. Indecent assault is a first-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to five years in jail and a $10,000 fine. Official oppression is a second-degree misdemeanor punishable by two years in jail and a maximum $5,000 fine.
Mr. Davis declined to comment as he left a county courtroom with his family. He just wants to get this behind him, Mr.
Walker said. He declined to say whether Mr. Davis is sorry for what happened.
I think the victims are relieved it s over, Mr. Riccardo said. They think he s a sexual predator.
Mr. Davis was arrested last June and charged with touching the breasts of a Marywood University student and coercing her into fondling his genitals after taking her from a traffic accident to her dormitory room. He was also charged with pulling over a second woman, driving her home, then trying to make her perform oral sex on him.
He told her he let her get away with driving drunk. The sex charges mark the second time Mr. Davis ran afoul of the law.
In 2003, he was charged with trying to illegally acquire Oxycontin, a powerful painkiller. He was sentenced to probation and returned to duty as a patrolman in January 2005 after spending a year doing police administrative work while serving probation. The no contest plea will likely mean the revocation of his state police officer certification, which clears the way for his dismissal, Mr.
Hayes said.
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