MARLBORO – The name of a disgraced former mayor is being removed from public locations in Marlboro.
Mayor Jonathan Hornik announced last week that the name Matthew Scannapieco will be removed from any public place in which it appears.
Scannapieco served as Marlboro’s mayor for three terms, from 1992 to 2003. Prior to his election as mayor, he was an appointed member of the Marlboro Zoning Board of Adjustment.
Until last week, Scannapieco was known as the town’s former mayor who served 21 months in prison after pleading guilty to accepting corrupt payments and tax evasion. Scannapieco admitted that while serving as mayor he accepted numerous bribes from 1997 to 2003.
Those crimes did not get Scannapieco’s name stricken from public places, but that all changed last week when the public learned through published reports that Scannapieco, who is now a resident of Delaware, pleaded guilty in May to multiple counts of rape, unlawful sexual contact and continuous sexual abuse of a child in Middletown, Del.
Within a day of that news coming to light, Hornik took to Facebook and wrote, “As a result of recent news reports and other prior events, I have ordered the name Scannapieco removed from all township property. This will be done immediately. No person in Marlboro should ever again have to read this name in any honored capacity.”
Hornik expanded on his Facebook comments when he spoke with the News Transcript on Aug. 13 and said, “We are removing his name from every plaque that existed. We have located two so far in the township, one is down and one is going to be removed. Scannapieco did awful things to the residents of Marlboro in our past.
“He has brought a cloud over this township and now he has done awful things to this innocent young lady. It is an honor to have your name inscribed in a permanent capacity throughout our town and he does not deserve that honor.
“He is a terrible person and I do not want any residents or guests or friends who pass through our town to ever have to read his name again,” Hornik said.
According to Carl Kanefsky, the Delaware Department of Justice public information officer, Scannapieco was arrested on Aug. 29, 2014, pleaded guilty on May 18, and is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 4.
According to the indictment, Scannapieco was charged with 17 counts of first degree rape, 20 counts of second degree rape, 13 counts of unlawful sexual contact in the first degree, seven counts of unlawful sexual contact in the second degree and two counts of continuous sexual abuse of a child for incidents that occurred from 2005-08.
Kanefsky said the charge of continuous sexual abuse of a child carries a potential sentence of two to 25 years in prison; unlawful sexual contact carries a potential sentence of up to three years; and first-degree rape carries a potential sentence of up to 15 years.
“Ultimately, it is up to the judge, but his sentence should be somewhere within those ranges,” Kanefsky said.