Indictment issued in library foot-kissing
The case was presented directly to the grand jury.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BOARDMAN -- The man accused of kissing a woman's foot while at the Boardman library branch has been indicted on a felony charge.
The case was presented directly to the Mahoning County panel, which returned an indictment for gross sexual imposition against Joseph Colella, 28, of Olde Winter Trail, Poland Township.
A direct presentment means that the case bypassed the lower court where preliminary hearings usually are conducted, and went straight to the grand jurors.
Colella, who had not been picked up as of Monday afternoon, couldn't be reached to comment.
If convicted, he could be sentenced for between six and 18 months incarceration and ordered to pay a fine of up to $5,000.
A 27-year-old woman reported to police that on July 11, she was in a study room at the Boardman branch of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County when a man, who police say was Colella, came in and closed the door.
Detective Michelle DiMartino said that the victim identified Colella from a photo lineup.
The reported incident
He told her that he was conducting a sociology project and that he had to kiss people's feet and record their reactions. The woman said she wasn't interested, but he kept insisting and she told police that she believed that he wasn't going to leave unless she agreed.
She relented and he briefly kissed the bottom of her foot, and then without warning he began sucking her toe, according to a police report. She then pulled her foot away and the man asked her reaction to which she replied she was freaked out.
The victim then went to her car and applied hand sanitizer to her foot. When she returned to the library, she didn't see the man. She went home and later called the library where personnel told her to notify police.
DiMartino said that Colella is also a suspect in a similar incident in 2000.
In that case, a 17-year-old girl reported that she was reading in the library one afternoon when a man about 19 years old walked up to her and told her that she had pretty feet. He then lay down on the floor and began kissing and caressing them.
When he was done he asked if he could have her socks. The girl refused and the man asked if he could buy them. She refused again and he left.