Scandals rock lawmaker, coach

Joe Votino is in state prison, and Brian Shipley is under investigation by the attorney general's office.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
MERCER, Pa. -- Scandals brought down one of Mercer County's top athletic coaches and one of the county's top elected officials in 2001.
Joseph M. Votino, 44, of Masury, former varsity basketball coach and dean of students at Kennedy Christian High School in Hermitage, is serving a prison sentence of one to two years in the minimum-security State Correctional Institution at Waymart, Pa., in extreme northeastern Pennsylvania.
Brian W. Shipley, 30, of Greenville, who resigned as a county commissioner Oct. 29, is under investigation by the Pennsylvania attorney general's office on allegations of misuse of a county credit card and a county cell phone. He hasn't been charged with any crime.
Dean's crime: Authorities said Votino used his position of authority at the private high school to select, isolate and seduce female students.
The details were uncovered after a call March 30, 2001, to a child abuse hot line.
After first denying any illegal activity, he pleaded guilty July 9 to a single count of corrupting the morals of a minor, even though he admitted having sex with three girls, all 17 at the time, either at his home or at a location in Sharon between spring of 2000 and April 2001.
Judge Michael Wherry of county common pleas court handed Votino a state prison sentence Aug. 30. He ordered him to pay $950 in legal costs for each of the three young women and to pick up the cost of their ongoing counseling.
Votino offered a public apology to the young women, their families, his family and the school just before sentencing.
"I never intended to cause pain," he said.
Commissioner: Shipley, a Republican, served less than two years as a county commissioner before his political career began to unravel last summer.
He first came under criticism for his private use of what authorities said was a county credit card.
Shipley maintained the card was his alone and that the county never had to pay any bills incurred with it. However, the card also bore the county's name.
Criticism of his activities increased when county records revealed he had used his office computer to visit X-rated Web sites.
Shipley said he did so one time as part of his duty as one of the county's chief executive officers, determining how far into forbidden sites employees could go after the county put in a new computer system.
Resigned: Shipley abruptly resigned from office when a third scandal surfaced when his county cell phone records surfaced in late October showing that he had made numerous calls to escort services, adult alternative lifestyle numbers and similar organizations.
Shipley left office without explaining his use of the phone, but he did publicly admit making mistakes in his personal life that made it impossible for him to continue to effectively carry out his duties.
"I apologize to my family, friends and the citizens of Mercer County," he said.