An Allegheny County man charged in an Internet sex sting will not be suspended from his duties as an elected constable unless he is convicted, a county official said.
Brian A. Zielmanski, 39, of Pittsburgh, was arrested July 17 by Murrysville police and agents from the state Attorney General's Child Predator Unit. Zielmanski was taken into custody in Murrysville after setting up a rendezvous with what he thought was a 14-year-old girl whom he intended to have sex with, according to the Attorney General's Office.
On Tuesday, he waived his right to a preliminary hearing on charges of criminal attempt/unlawful contact with a minor and criminal use of a communication facility, both felonies, before District Judge Charles R. Conway in Murrysville. He remains free on $100,000 cash bond pending court action.
Zielmanski is a constable in Pittsburgh's 6th Ward, which is the city's Polish Hill section. He was last elected to office in 2003, running as a Democrat.
Robert Gallis, Allegheny County's manager of constable services, said Zielmanski would not be relieved of his constable duties unless he is convicted.
"If he would be found guilty, I would get copies of that conviction and I would get court orders to remove him as the constable," he said.
However, Gallis said Zielmanski apparently has not been actively serving as a constable.
"He would have to be certified and have liability insurance and have a county ID number and I don't have that, so that would tell me that he is not active," Gallis said. "He could not get paid."
Gallis said a constable being inactive is not unusual. He said on average he pays about 125 constables each month but there are more than 300 in the county.
Nils Frederiksen, spokesman for the attorney general, said the office cannot prevent Zielmanski from serving as a constable.
"Until he is convicted we don't have any authority to remove him from office," Frederiksen said. He said a court arraignment for Zielmanski has not been set.
The Attorney General's Office said the 14-year-old girl named "Chloe" whom Zielmanski met in an Internet chat room on July 17 was actually David Frattare, a special agent with the office's Child Predator Unit.
In the criminal complaint filed by the authorities, Zielmanski allegedly offered to go to the girl's home and then told the child "u can't tell no one... and I could get into a lot of trouble."
"Chloe" asked Zielmanski, who went by the screen name "zmangizmo," if he wanted to have sex with her and he answered yes, according to the complaint.
A female undercover officer complied with Zielmanski's request to speak to the child on the phone, the court documents state. During that conversation, a meeting place allegedly was agreed on and he allegedly described the car he was driving and then in a later conversation what he would be wearing. When he arrived at the location, he was immediately arrested and, according to the authorities, admitted to engaging in an online chat from a computer at his residence.
