PENNSYLVANIA State police: Seal sex list

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- A federal judge decided that the internal affairs reports with the names of state troopers disciplined for sexual misconduct should be released this afternoon, but an appeal is being considered.
Some of the troopers hired lawyers to try to get U.S. District Judge Cynthia M. Rufe to remove their names from the reports. One lawyer told the judge this week that a trooper has threatened to harm himself if it is revealed publicly that he allowed himself to be "dominated" in a sexual manner.
"One person I represent is terribly, terribly, terribly distressed by all this and I fear for his safety," attorney Marc Durant told the judge at a hearing Tuesday. He said Wednesday that he was conferring with his clients to decide whether to appeal.
A lawyer for The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News had argued for unsealing the reports with the troopers' names included.
The newspapers' lawyer, Michael E. Baughman, told the judge that the troopers knew they would be subjected to public scrutiny when they joined the police force.
The judge agreed with Baughman.
"Public employees ... almost have to expect to live by a certain code and that code is, if you do wrong, you're going to be exposed," Rufe said. She ordered that the reports be released at 4 p.m. today.
Many of the investigations cleared troopers of wrongdoing; should Rufe's order stand, it will result only in revelation of the names of the troopers who were disciplined.
The sexual misconduct in the 47 reports ranges from unwanted passes to gang rapes. The reports were filed with Rufe's court as part of lawsuits filed by several women who were sexually assaulted by Trooper Michael K. Evans, who is now serving five to 10 years in prison for various crimes.
Another of Durant's arguments was that unlike Evans, the troopers he represented had not been found to have committed criminal acts. Any sexual impropriety in the state police is grounds for discipline, even if it is not a crime.