WILKES-BARRE, Pennsylvania — A former Dupont police officer accused of violently molesting two young boys has been sentenced to serve at least nine months in the Luzerne County Correctional Facility.
David Turkos, 45, of 230 Wyoming Ave., Dupont, was ordered to serve nine to 23 months in the county jail followed by five years of probation. Luzerne County Judge Michael T. Vough imposed the sentence Friday, making Turkos immediately eligible for work-release.
The judge also ordered Turkos to have no unsupervised contact with children and to continue with anger management treatment. He will also be required to undergo a sex offender assessment.
Turkos was accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting two young boys over a period of seven years.
In one instance, Turkos held his hand over a boy’s mouth to muffle the screams, according to prosecutors. One of the boys reported Turkos would choke him and use handcuffs and zip ties to fasten his hands to the backs of chairs or railings to keep them in place.
To ensure the boys’ silence, Turkos sometimes bribed them with toys and threatened them on other occasions, including once telling them he would hide their bodies in mine shafts where nobody could find them, according to prosecutors.
“I hope you die,” a police affidavit quotes Turkos as telling one of the boys. “You’re a piece of crap.”
Turkos faced charges of involuntary sexual intercourse with a child and indecent assault of a person under 13, but he landed a deal and prosecutors dropped the felony charges against him. Instead, Turkos pleaded guilty in June to two misdemeanor counts of corruption of minors.
Turkos’ father, Joseph A. Turkos, 72, of 9 Ash St., Dupont, previously landed himself at State Correctional Institution Frackville for similar conduct involving one of the same children, according to prosecutors.
In that case, Joseph Turkos was accused of fondling and having sexual contact with the boy, threatening to take away his toys if he told anyone. Records show Joseph Turkos, who was charged with child rape in 2013, also landed a deal and admitted to a misdemeanor count of corruption of minors.
He is serving a prison term of three months to five years.