Dental employee admits to victimizing female co-workers
By Kathleen Brady Shea, Managing Editor, The Times
Joseph “Joey” C. Kolimaga, 27, of Coatesville, was ordered to spend three years on probation for making stealth videos of female co-workers.
A former employee at a West Chester dental surgery practice with offices in West Goshen and Kennett Square pleaded guilty Wednesday in Chester County Court to one count of invasion of privacy and four counts of harassment for secretly videotaping female co-workers, prosecutors said.
Under the terms of a plea agreement approved by Chester County Court Judge William P. Mahon, Joseph “Joey” C. Kolimaga, 27, of Coatesville, who worked at Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Associates of Chester County, will spend three years on probation, said Chester County First Assistant District Attorney Michael G. Noone.
Noone said Kolimaga, who was represented by attorney Joseph P. Green Jr., will need to report his whereabouts to authorities under provisions of Megan’s Law for 15 years and must continue to receive psychological treatment. He said the co-workers that Kolimaga victimized attended the sentencing, and one spoke in their behalf about the impact of the crimes.
West Goshen Township police began an investigation Aug. 16 after a co-worker found a cell phone set to video-record lying on the floor of the female employees’ changing room; police traced the phone to Kolimaga, the criminal complaint said.
Discussion in the office about the phone led to another revelation: In 2006, a female co-worker who had dated Kolimaga confronted him about a videotape she found in his residence that contained “footage of several staff members in various state of undress at the Oral Surgery office” in West Goshen, the complaint said.
Police interviewed the former girlfriend, who had shared the contents of the video with a co-worker who recognized herself and other staff members. Both women told police that Kolimaga insisted he was young and stupid at the time and didn’t do things like that anymore, the complaint said
Detectives conducted interviews with five other female employees, none of whom are being identified because of the nature of the offenses, all of whom were distressed to learn about the existence of the videotape from police. The women were shown the video in private, recognized themselves, and said they wanted to press charges against Kolimaga, the complaint said.
Following his arrest on Sept. 18, Kolimaga waived his preliminary hearing, and Assistant District Attorney Thomas Ost-Prisco said at the time that he expected the case to be resolved with a plea agreement. In exchange for the waiver, which spared the victims from testifying, Ost-Prisco said he would not seek prison time for Kolimaga.
