Pressure mounts on DA Williams over prosecutors ensnared in porn email scandal

A Harrisburg ethics activist and the National Organization for Women are putting pressure on Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams to deal with two prosecutors ensnared in a scandal over pornographic emails sent on state computers.

The emails were unsealed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Thursday as part of a tangled, years-long tale of intrigue stemming from the investigation into Attorney General Kathleen Kane.

Prosecutors Frank Fina and Marc Costanzo are both veterans of the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General, where they allegedly sent and received the emails.

Kane, who is facing perjury charges over the alleged leak of grand jury information, contends that the investigation into the leak was manufactured by Fina as revenge.

RELATED: See the emails behind the AG Kane scandal

Gene Stilp, an ethics activist and good government gadfly on Monday issued a statement calling for Williams to fire Fina.

“DA Seth Williams should relieve Fina of all duties immediately,” Stilp said in a statement. “It is time for the office of Philadelphia to disassociate itself from Fina and any other colleagues involved in the original and unseemly mess inside the previous attorney generals’ offices.”

The Philadelphia chapter of the National Organization for Women stopped short of calling for Williams to fire of Fina, but said in a statement that “there must be consequences for such behavior.”

“That Frank Fina was involved in prosecuting sex crimes makes this all the more egregious,” NOW’s statement reads. “This gross misconduct points to the culture of misogyny and racism that permeates the highest levels of government.”

The emails, about 400 pages of them, include parodies of motivational posters. One depicts a woman performing oral sex on a man under the caption “Devotion: Making Your Boss Happy is Your Only Job.”

Another features a person who bears a striking resemblance to Col. Sanders, the mascot of Kentucky Fried Chicken, holding a bucket of KFC while fighting two black men. The caption reads: “Bravery at it’s finest.”

Fina was a key prosecutor in the investigation of Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State assistant football coach serving a 30 to 60 year prison sentence for molesting 10 boys he met through his charity.

Kane rode to office in part on a promise to find out why it took so long to charge Jerry Sandusky with sex crimes. Investigators in that case say they needed to find numerous victims to overcome the challenge of Sandusky’s notoriety in central Pennsylvania. That review found inexplicable delays but no political interference in the Sandusky investigation.

The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office said last week that the office was reviewing the issue. A spokesman said Monday that they were working to get that review done as quickly as possible.

To see the emails, click the links below. Warning, they are—as this story indicates — very likely to get you in trouble at work.