Interim fire chief in Utica, NY stepping down over sex scandal involving deputy chief’s son
Chief mentored 20-something son of deputy chief who was trying to become a Utica firefighter
BREAKING: John Kelly to resign as Temporary Utica Fire Chief July 1 following inappropriate text message controversy, @MayorPalmieri says – but will Kelly remain @CityofUtica Fire Dept? Unclear pic.twitter.com/TQtAt60WuD
— TALK! 100.7 FM (@_talkfm) June 18, 2018
Read statement from Deputy Chief Mark Ambrose about his son & Interim Fire Chief John Kelly
Read texts between Interim Fire Chief John Kelly and deputy chief’s son
For the last six or seven days WIBX Radio has been breaking news about a sex scandal involving Utica (NY) Fire Department Intern Chief John Kelly. The radio station published texts they say are between Chief Kelly and the 20-something son of a department deputy chief, Mark Ambrose. Chief Kelly was seen as a mentor to Kelly’s son, who was trying to be hired as a Utica firefighter. The texts indicate that Kelly had invited Chief Ambrose’s son to Utica fire department property where the two men would sometimes watch pornography and masturbate. Yesterday (Monday) Utica officials announced Chief Kelly would no longer be the City’s interim fire chief.
Greg Mason, Observer-Dispatch:
Interim Fire Chief John Kelly has resigned from his leadership position amid allegations of inappropriate sexual conduct that he conducted on fire department property.
Issues involving the former interim fire chief’s alleged misconduct are centered around a personal relationship that developed starting in 2015 between Kelly — then a deputy chief — and a man in his 20s who sought recruitment into the Utica Fire Department, according to Deputy Chief Mark Ambrose, the man’s father.
Ambrose detailed the situation in a statement released to radio station WIBX on Monday, a few days after the station published a series of lewd text messages reportedly sent between Kelly and Ambrose’s son. The texts include references to watching pornography and other lewd acts that occurred on fire department property.
“As a father and a human being, I feel that trying to help prevent individuals from abusing their official positions and other types of predators from taking advantage of my son and any other person’s child is more important than both my son’s and my job aspirations,” Ambrose said in the statement.
