Kittanning, Applewold officials accused in child sex crime

KITTANNING, Pa. — Two council members in Armstrong County are accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy.

State police said Mark Feeney, 55, and David Croyle, 60, are accused of having sex with the boy from April through September 2016.

Feeney is an Applewold Borough Council member, and Croyle is a member of Kittanning Borough Council.

“The original case resulted from a cyber tip we received the cases from yesterday was from follow up from the original case," said Trooper Robert Rottman.

Both men were arrested without incident.

Feeney and Croyle have preliminary hearings scheduled for Aug. 22. Feeney has been suspended from the North Buffalo Township Board of Supervisors.

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According to police, the teen was hired by Croyle for a job at the Kittanning Paper. Police say the two began talking on the app Grindr, exchanging numbers and, eventually, nude pictures.

Police say Croyle and the boy had multiple sexual encounters at his apartment on South Jefferson Street in Kittanning. Croyle allegedly told the boy, to not tell anyone, or he’d lose his job.

That same year, police say Feeney met the same 14-year-old, talking to him on social media. Feeney invited him over to his apartment, where the two had sex several times.

"It was no accident, there was no mistake of age -- it was intentional act. They knew what they were doing," Rottman said.

Croyle serves as vice president on the Kittanning Borough Council. Mayor Scott Kline says he’s not sure what’s going to happen to Croyle's seat on council, but believes he should resign.

Kittanning Council President Kim Fox told Channel 11 that Croyle can’t be legally removed from council, -- he can only resign. The borough is coordinating with the solicitor to send a letter asking him to do so.

Feeney is the president of Applewold Borough Council, and the chief of East Franklin Township’s fire department. Channel 11 reached out to both the borough and the department, but could not get an answer.

Cox Media Group