Lemoyne, Pa. - Police on Wednesday arrested a Wormleysburg Borough Council member on charges accusing him of sexual misconduct with of three teenage boys.

West Shore Regional police said the charges against 62-year-old Ronald P. Frank stem from an investigation that began in February 2008.

In addition to his duties as a Council member, Frank is the Code Enforcement Officer for the Borough of Lemoyne, the Fire Commissioner of the West Shore Bureau of Fire and a former school crossing guard for the Lemoyne Middle School.

One of his three accusers told police that on several occasions during the summer and fall of 2007, when the boy was 13 years old, Frank performed sex acts on him in the Fire Commission Office at the Lemoyne Borough Building, according to a police news release.

His second accuser told police that Frank performed sex acts on him several times during the summer of 2007, when the boy was 14 years old, police said. The accuser said Frank paid him $20 for each of the incidents, which he claims occurred in Frank's vehicle and home.

The third accuser reported that Frank performed sex acts on him at the Fire Commission Office and at Frank's home during the summer of 2007, when the boy was 13 years old, according to police.

Two of the boys told police they met Frank when he worked as a crossing guard at the middle school.

"What can you say about it?" said Cumberland County District Attorney David Freed. "It's dirty and disgusting and incredibly troubling.  I've been doing this job long enough to have seen situations like this, adults who have positions of authority over kids and use those positions to further their nefarious desires."

"It just doesn't seem possible that the man that I know that lives across the street from us and has been our neighbor for all these years could be responsible for that type of an act," said Frank's neighbor, Peggy Kline. "I just can't believe it."

"I try my best to keep a close watch on our children. It never makes you feel comfortable knowing anyone that's accused of that lives in your neighborhood," said Frank's neighbor Heather Scott.

Frank was charged with 16 felony and misdemeanor counts; including involuntary sexual intercourse, corruption of minors, indecent assault, statutory sexual assault, unlawful contact with a minor and prostitution.

In a statement to police, Frank claimed the sex was consensual and he knew the boys were underage.  Frank said he had serious health and financial problems and was "looking for comfort in the wrong place."

Frank was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Richard Dougherty and committed to Cumberland County Prison in lieu of $250,000 bail. In the event he makes bail, he is not permitted to have any contact with his accusers, or any child under the age of 18. A preliminary hearing has been set for July 8.

"I certainly hope there are no more victims out there. It wouldn't surprise me if there were," Freed said.

Prosecutors are urging parents to call West Shore Regional Police if they have reason to believe their child may have had inappropriate contact with Frank.

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