By Meghan Foley
The Keene Sentinel
KEENE, N.H. — A Keene fire captain received a suspended court sentence Friday after being found guilty of a prostitution charge. The fire official, who is also an employee of a city-based ambulance service, solicited a prostitute this summer using his Keene Fire Department cellphone, according to Keene police.
He agreed to pay the prostitute $70, according to court documents.
Robert J. DiLuzio Jr., 44, of Keene appeared in 8th Circuit Court District Division in the city on the misdemeanor charge Friday morning. Keene police then announced both his arrest and sentencing via a news release.
Keene police, along with the N.H. Attorney General’s Drug Task Force, began investigating prostitution in the area on July 7, according to police.
On that evening, Keene police arrested a woman, accusing her of placing an ad for prostitution on backpage.com, Friday’s news release said. Authorities said a search of her phone showed contact with a person using a phone belonging to the city’s fire department.
Police said after they investigated further, they traced the phone to DiLuzio.
He was sentenced Friday to 360 days in jail, suspended for two years upon good behavior, the completion of an inpatient sexual recovery treatment program, and the following of any recommendations from that program, the news release said.
Elizabeth Fox, Keene human resources director, said Friday afternoon that DiLuzio was still employed by the city. She said her office is aware of the circumstances, but declined to comment further on the grounds that this is a personnel matter.
DiLuzio has been a captain on the Keene Fire Department since 2013; prior to that he served as a lieutenant.
Fox, who was out of the office when reached Friday, couldn’t immediately provide additional information about his work history.
Fire Chief Mark F. Howard said he was aware of the court proceeding involving DiLuzio, and referred any further questions to Fox or City Manager Medard K. Kopczynski.
“As the fire chief of the department this is an internal personnel matter, and there would be no further comment,” he said.
Kopczynski, likewise, declined to comment. He referred questions about city cellphone polices, as well as personnel policies pertaining to employees who have been charged with a crime, to Fox. She was unavailable for additional comment by press time.
Besides working for the Keene Fire Department, DiLuzio also works for DiLuzio Ambulance Service, a private company based in the city.
A representative from that service Friday said she had “absolutely no comment” about the situation, and declined to provide DiLuzio’s employment status.
A sting
DiLuzio’s arrest was part of an ongoing prostitution bust that also netted six other people in July.
On July 8 and July 12, Keene police issued news releases announcing the arrests of, and naming, two alleged prostitutes and four men accused of agreeing to pay for the services of a prostitute in response to an online advertisement.
The advertisement was placed by the Keene Police Department as part of a sting operation.
The operation’s focus is to arrest people engaged in offering themselves for prostitution using the Internet, and to arrest those agreeing to pay for those services, according to Friday’s news release. The operation continues in conjunction with the N.H. Attorney General’s Drug Task Force.
Friday’s news release didn’t identify the woman DiLuzio corresponded with, or say if she’s one of the two who had been arrested in July.
Keene police Sgt. Thaddeus “T.J.” Derendal said Friday afternoon he had few details on the investigation, but did confirm it was done in conjunction with the prostitution sting operation in July.
Derendal said DiLuzio turned himself in to police Friday morning, and he doesn’t believe there will be any additional arrests coming out of the July investigation.
In response to a series of questions from The Sentinel about the probe involving DiLuzio, Keene Police Chief Brian C. Costa said in an email his department had no further comment.
The questions asked included which of the two women on arrested on July 7 was in contact with DiLuzio; whether a transaction of sex and money took place between DiLuzio and the woman; and if DiLuzio’s employment with the city affected the timing of the investigation.
“The matter is now one of a City personnel issue and thus comment cannot be made,” Costa wrote.
Copyright 2016 The Keene Sentinel