ROSCOMMON COUNTY — Roscommon County Commissioner David Russo, who also serves as Markey Township’s fire chief, now faces sex crimes charges involving a minor.
David Russo was charged on Wednesday in Roscommon County District Court.
Roscommon County Commissioner Chair Darlene Sensor said the county board has heard little from Russo since his arrest back on November 16th. She said they were caught off guard by the charges against him.
“Surprised? shocked. I think all the board members felt that way when we heard the charges. But as a board, we’re very limited in what we’re able to do,” said Sensor.
The 67-year-old is now charged with three counts of third-degree sex crimes and one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Michigan State Police took over the investigation in late August from the Roscommon County Sheriff’s office because Russo is both a county commissioner and fire chief in Markey Township
“That’s when we began our investigation into the alleged sexual assault between David Russo and a 16-year-old boy that began roughly approximately 2022 over a span of a year to a year and a half. The victim lived in close proximity to Mr. Russo’s place of employment,” said Miller.
Miller said a special prosecutor out of Crawford County and a special judge are handling the case because of that conflict of interest.
“We just want to make sure that it is a fair trial and that we, the people who are trying the case, are, you know, third parties. They have no involvement in that county at all. So, everything will be fair,” said Miller.
Sensor said as far as she knows, Russo has no plans to resign from the county board. He was placed on paid administrative leave from his role as fire chief in Markey Township.
“We have had few communications with the commissioner, so I think right now he is focused on his personal life and what is going on. And he has not attended the last meeting or this meeting. We cannot vote him off. We cannot recall him. His constituents can do a recall. But as far as the board is concerned, the only thing by statute that we are able to do is remove him from internal committees. And that’s going to be done,” said Sensor.
Russo pleaded not guilty to the charges during the arraignment. His next court appearance will be at 10 a.m. Dec. 19.