Ulster County District Attorney Emmanuel Nneji acknowledged that the employment of Level 3 sex offender Michael Innello was “tearing the town apart” during a recent Woodstock Town Board meeting, where he fielded questions from concerned residents about the controversial town maintenance department hire.
“I get questions from both sides interested in having me do one thing or another, and much of that I couldn’t do anything about,” said Nneji after a very tense session where he said many of their answers lie with the town attorney.
“But you know, the fact that they’re reaching out to me to do something tells me that they have expectations that these are issues that I can deal with, that I am authorized to deal with,” he said, taking time to speak to a reporter, something he doesn’t do very often. “Responding to each email or each inquiry would just be futile, and I wanted to come there in person and look them in the face and answer their questions collectively. And as frustrated as they are, that frustration is part of the political process.”
Nneji said they can take that agitation and use it to make change in the town board or elsewhere.
“But it’s not something that a district attorney can come in to change. If the registered sex offender was in violation of the registration requirement, that person would be charged with such a violation and prosecuted,” he said.
Nneji said the issue is not primarily what the sex offender is doing, but rather the supervisor’s decision versus the board’s decision and who has what power.
“And that’s something for the town attorney to address, for them to address, for the board, and for the community to, if they wanted to, elect somebody else. But those are political issues that I cannot address. And to the extent they ask questions that I could address, I addressed them to the best of my ability,” he said.
Nneji said he understands the anxiety and anger associated with having a Level 3 sex offender in the community.
“It triggers people whose experiences may have not been prosecuted in the past, who feel that they never got justice when they were abused or molested when they were younger, and it causes pain in the community,” he said. “To the extent that the forum last night gave them an opportunity to ask their questions, let out some of the steam that’s built up, and hopefully calm down the trauma that they are feeling from this whole experience … for those who have been violated before or who have family members who have been violated before, I hope that forum was productive for them,” Nneji said.
But he also had a message for the elected officials.
“Town officials, when they take action, need to consider or anticipate the ramifications and the consequences that can grow out of those situations,” Nneji said. “And the main concern, for the most part, was the way people felt about what the head town official did or was doing, and that is absolutely outside of my basket of responsibilities as a district attorney.”
No criminal law was broken. If there is a town, county or state law, the town attorney’s role is to advise the town board, he said.
Some at the meeting were concerned about cease-and-desist letters flying around like wildfire, to which Nneji said people have a First Amendment right to free speech.
“Truth is always a defense,” he said. “As long as you’re not saying something that you know to be false or that could reasonably be known to be false, you shouldn’t have any concern if you’re speaking the truth.”
Erin Cadigan had one of the most passionate responses to Nneji’s appearance and Supervisor Bill McKenna’s choice to continue Innello’s employment.
“There is no legal recourse that this entire room of people and community who are appalled by one man’s decision to bring someone who was not a native-born son … He handpicked his personal secretary’s boyfriend from an hour and a half away, five months out of jail, to kind of apply for a job. Where was the job posted? How long was that job posted? Who were the other people that applied for that job, and why were they denied?” she asked.
“And now you’re saying that that man has been given a free pass by our town supervisor to loiter while mowing and raking and snooping around our schools, putting his eyes on all of our freaking children as long as he wants by some supervised visit to our schools and parks,” Cadigan said. “To sum up, what you’re saying is we have no recourse. Do we have someone to go to to fix this situation or not? Yes or no?”
“I do not say it’s OK for this individual to be in the school. I do not say that it’s OK for him to be anywhere near children,” Nneji said. “The town attorney is the individual that has the answer for this issue.”
Kyle Barnett, one of the town attorneys, did answer that question on Sept. 4. In an email to the Town Board, he said McKenna overstepped his authority by unilaterally rehiring Innello after the Town Board voted to terminate him and filed paperwork with the county Personnel Department to remove him from the town roster.
The town’s labor attorney has a differing opinion, so now the board must figure out how to further proceed.
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