Doug Litwhiler, a candidate for Schuylkill County sheriff, has filed a lawsuit against Sheriff Joseph Groody and three others.

“Now we will see what the truth is and how evil the Democrats in Schuylkill County are and how low they will go to win an election,” Litwhiler said.

The suit demands a jury trial. Compensatory and punitive damages in excess of $50,000 are requested.

Groody, Anthony Kodack, Ranae Warcola and Kylee Petritsch are named as defendants. Kodack is the administrator of the Facebook page titled “Schuylkill County Sheriff Candidate Doug Litwhiler likes young girls.” The other two defendants are listed as administrators.

The page alleges Litwhiler made inappropriate remarks to young women. Litwhiler denies the accusations. He said previously he was withdrawing from the race because of the allegations and the impact on his family. But on Thursday he said he had not made a decision.

“I have time to decide and I will decide when I feel that I should decide. I am not going to rush any decision,” he said.

He has until Aug. 9 to withdraw, according to election guidelines.

Litwhiler’s attorney Joseph Orso III said earlier this week the suit would be filed if Kodack did not remove “defamatory” posts and a retraction were not written before June 9.

Lawsuit

The filing, for defamation and civil conspiracy, alleges Groody threatened Litwhiler in a phone call and said that “it was going to be Groody’s last term and requested that Litwhiler wait four years.”

According to the suit, Groody also told Litwhiler that if he entered the sheriff’s race that he would be wasting his money and the Groody “would ruin Plaintiff’s reputation, his jobs and his family.”

The lawsuit says the Facebook posts created by the “Ashland Defendants,” who are referenced as Kodack, Warcola and Petritsch, is “false and accuse Plaintiff of criminal and/or immoral conduct.”

It alleges the posts were made at the Groody’s direction and that statements were made with “reckless disregard as to the truth or falsity of the statements.”

The suit claims Petritsch will “do anything” to ensure Groody’s re-election.

It mentions text messages Groody has denied sending.

Groody response

In an emailed statement Groody said, “Because of recent allegations made against my opponent, Douglas Litwhiler, my opponent has wrongly brought my name and reputation into these claims. The voters of Schuylkill County deserve transparency when electing public officials, and I want to publicly state that I had absolutely no involvement in any way with any accusations made against my opponent.”

He said he had not sent emails, text messages, Facebook posts or any allegations against his opponent.

“I have become aware of numerous allegations against my opponent that have been made public, mainly through Facebook and by reports in several newspapers. As I have stated throughout my 13-year term as sheriff of Schuylkill County, I support all victims of sexual harassment, as it is something I take very seriously.”

Groody added, “I won three prior elections for sheriff by running positive campaigns based on my qualifications and my 43-year record in law enforcement.”

He said this campaign would be the same.

Kodack declined to comment except to say via message that Petritsch is not an administrator because she left for personal reasons. He has retained attorney Jessalyn Cool from the RFE Law Firm, Swarthmore, to represent him. She did not return a call for comment.

Kodack has said other administrators of the page are prepared legally with representation.