Pennsylvania Governor's Appointee Refuses To Resign After Pornographic Email Scandal

Randy Feathers, who Republican Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett appointed to the state Board of Probation and Parole, refused to step down after being asked to do so by the governor due to findings that he exchanged sexually explicit emails on state computer systems. Feathers said that he wants current Democratic Attorney General Kathleen Kane to appoint an independent forensic expert to review what Kane called inappropriate behavior.

Feathers also reportedly said that he would resign from his post, which pays him $116,000-a-year, only if the expert could conclude after the review that he did not fulfill his professional duties. Corbett could still remove Feathers from his post, but it would need approval from the state Senate, according to the Associated Press. Feathers had shifted from the attorney general’s office four years ago into Corbett’s current administration. Corbett, who had said that he was unaware about the sexually explicit exchanges, was the attorney general from 1995 to 1997 and from 2005 to 2011, and he is currently running for a second gubernatorial term.

Feathers formerly served as a regional director of the attorney general's narcotics bureau, and HE was involved in the investigation of ex-Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky for sex abuse. Mr. Feathers was unanimously approved by the Senate on October 3, 2012, to begin his term as a member of Board of Probation and Parole. Kane’s office said that Feathers had received more than 400 sexually explicit emails and had sent out dozens during his tenure at the attorney general’s office.

A week ago, it was discclosed that former and current employees working in the attorney general’s office had exchanged hundreds of emails containing pornographic content. While reviewing the Sandusky investigation, Kane identified eight men who had sent or received messages with sexually explicit content.

Two of the eight men -- Christopher Abruzzo, secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection, and Glenn Parno, a deputy chief counsel at the DEP -- resigned on Thursday, which is the day that Corbett received the first batch of emails that he requested for review from Kane's office.

The final batch of messages was released on Friday. Kane’s office said that about 30 current employees were also involved in sexually explicit email exchanges. They are currently being disciplined, AP reported.