Officer Andrew Dale Fired for Sexually Abusing Woman

RAMAPO

The Town Board fired a police officer last night who is accused by the town Police Department of sexually abusing a Monsey woman.

The dismissal of Andrew Dale, 34, came a day after an indictment accused him of felony and misdemeanor crimes related to administering gynecological examinations, but was based only on the Police Department's disciplinary charges.

A resolution unanimously approved by the board declared that Dale, a member of the department for 10 years, "is no longer qualified to serve as a Police Officer and is immediately discharged."

The decision was made after board members were provided with a 1,641-page transcript of the six-day hearing, as well as the hearing officer's report.

Hearing Officer John Carey reported finding sufficient evidence to uphold 16 disciplinary charges, including Dale's failure to report the woman's accusations, his lying to the Police Department about the accusations and his participation in the alleged abuse.

Ramapo Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence said last night that he thought it was significant that Carey found "proof well beyond the substantial-evidence test in determining that Dale committed the crime of sexual abuse."

Police Chief Peter Brower and relatives of Dale's declined to comment as they left last night's meeting.

Dale's dismissal was not recommended by Carey, who suggested a one-year unpaid suspension. The officer's annual salary was about $95,000.

Carey, a former Westchester County judge, reported that he took "into account AD's unblemished record in the RPD, his national service as a US Marine, his current service in the US Army Reserve, and his overall performance as a Community Police Officer."

It seemed to Carey that "more good can be done by sending him back to work," with an admonition to use better judgment in the future.

Dale and Zalman Silber were released without bail Tuesday after separate arraignments before Judge Catherine Bartlett in Rockland County Court in New City.

Silber, 41, had already posted $10,000 bail in Manhattan after he was accused last month of misdemeanor charges of sex abuse and a felony charge of practicing a profession without a license. The charges stemmed from accusations that Silber examined several women while posing as a gynecologist.

In the Rockland indictment, Silber and Dale were accused of 34 charges, including the felony of performing medical examinations without a license between 2005 and 2006. They also were accused of four counts of fourth-degree aggravated sex abuse, a felony, and 24 counts of third-degree sex abuse, a misdemeanor. All the charges related to the alleged contact with the Monsey woman.

They pleaded not guilty, and their attorneys predicted they would prevail at trial.

One of the lawyers, William Aronwald of White Plains, said the woman was "mentally unbalanced" and had ulterior motives for her accusations.

In a footnote of the hearing officer's report, it was stated the woman wrote that she was withdrawing her claims against either Dale or Silber or both.

"I am not in good mental health and approached the DA's office with an unstable mind when I submitted my claim," the woman was said to have written on Dec. 10, 2007.

That was the same day she taped three conversations with Dale for the Police Department, and the day when Dale later met with Silber.

The hearing officer determined that the woman's testimony against Dale at the hearing "was more credible" than the letter.

Carey wrote that Dale implicated himself beyond what was recorded on tape.

While the woman, in the conversations, accused Dale only of sexual abuse, he later gave police details that he could not have known, "except for (his) personal participation," Carey wrote.