SUNBURY – An affair on company time…that’s an accusation in the shocking Ballard Spahr report released today in Sunbury. WKOK has obtained a copy of the report. Sunbury Councilman Dale Henry was a call-in guest on WKOK’s On The Mark program and spoke about the report, saying he read it several weeks ago when he was given a copy by city solicitor Brianna Apfelbaum-Kula. Henry said, “Most of it pertains to an incident between an outside resident’s wife and an officer.”
In the report, the Sunbury officer is identified as Scott Hause and the wife is identified as Jessica Troup. The report indicates they had a sexual relationship. Henry says Hause was disciplined once an investigation revealed he used his department issued cell phone and vehicle to carry on the relationship with Troup.
Henry said, “Originally, the officer was suspended for three weeks without pay. Early in the investigation, we were informed by Ballard Spahr that the officer was punished and double jeopardy applied, which means we cannot go back and do anything again. That was on that specific incident. I’m not saying that down the road, if something else comes to light on something different, it won’t be looked at.”
Henry defended Sunbury Mayor David Persing, “The mayor is going to take a pounding over this. Dave has listened to his officers in his department. He likes to believe the best in everybody and he takes everybody at their word. When you read this report, keep in the back of your mind, Dave was being told certain things, that he was believing in his officers, so it’s not Mayor Persing’s fault.”
Henry says they are still receiving information daily from various sources and they are trying to figure out what is fact and what is not. The Ballard Spahr report was made public after The Daily Item appealed to the state Office of Open Records to compel the city to release it. Their original right-to-know request was denied by the city, citing attorney-client privilege. More information will be released from the report throughout the day here on WKOK and online at WKOK.com. (Ali Stevens)