Tamaqua officials fired the cop accused of sex crimes involving minors and dogs on Tuesday.
During its regular meeting, Tamaqua Borough Council members did not accept the resignation of Christopher Cordes. Instead, they voted unanimously to fire him.
(READ: Tamaqua Cop Charged With Sex Crimes Involving Minors And Dogs)
At Tuesday’s meeting, Tamaqua Mayor Nathan Gerace read a prepared statement detailing the events that have happened related to Cordes and the borough.
Cordes was suspended indefinitely without pay starting May 31 when Tamaqua was notified by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office that Cordes had been arrested and charged with numerous sex crimes involving minor girls.
Police also say during the course of their investigation into Cordes’ alleged illegal activity that his Snapchat account contained videos of him having sex with dogs.
On June 10, Gerace said, the borough notified Cordes of a Loudermill hearing at which he could present testimony to defend himself against the accusations and potentially delay his possible termination from the Tamaqua police force.
That Loudermill hearing was scheduled for June 14 at 9 a.m. but Cordes never showed. Gerace attended the Loudermill hearing alongside Police Chief Michael Hobbs and Borough Solicitor Tony Odorizzi.
“With all of this information being provided and taken into consideration and the fact that an opportunity was provided Mr. Cordes to provide evidence of his innocence to us, a hearing at which he failed to appear, leads me to ask Council to act on my recommendation to terminate Mr. Cordes’ employment with the Tamaqua Police Department, effectively immediately,” Gerace said.
During his statement, Gerace also said that the Attorney General’s investigation showed that none of Cordes’ alleged illegal activity happened while he was on the job in Tamaqua. The police department’s computer system was also apparently examined and no purported illegal material was found there, Gerace said.
The mayor also said that no other Tamaqua police officers are currently under investigation by the Attorney General’s office and that no credible complaints have been made against them.
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